Log; Complete

[unceased.livejournal.com]

When; Last week-ish.
Rating; G
Characters; Hohenheim [unceased] and Trisha [abandonedsin]
Summary; Hoho-papa visits his lovely wife with pretty flowers. Lots of flowers.
Log;

Hohenheim; It was turning out to be a strange day, indeed.

How did you pick out the prettiest flowers for a woman who was supposed to be dead? When she was the only woman you ever truly loved and, unfortunately, you had never exactly asked her what her favorite kind was? He had parked himself in front of a flower vendor for a good ten minutes, clearly defeated, while eying the various types and colors they had to offer.

It was his saving grace, luckily, when the vendor was kind enough to explain their meanings.

It was his funeral, however, when he opted to pick a bouquet of each and then proceeded to her building, precariously balancing an onslaught of flowers in his arms. It wasn't really until he reached the hallway that housed Trisha that he felt his heart begin to race. That was what happened, after all, when you were around the one you loved.

He cleared his throat and, after adjusting some flowers, drummed his knuckles against the door. He didn't say a word, he couldn't find the right ones, and thus he simply stood there with almost thirteen bouquets in tow. Lilies, Roses, Irises, Orchids, Carnations, Daises, Tulips--

She was bound to like one of them.

Trisha; Of course she was nervous. It would have been silly to presume otherwise. She was meeting the husband that had left for his own reasons, reasons she didn't know about and yet understood. She was meeting him after having done her best to raise his sons until her premature death, and she could only wonder how much longer it had been for him.

Had he met somebody else? Fallen in love again? His words had been sweet, but he had always been that way, and Trisha was no fool.

Still, she would know as soon as she could see his face where she stood with him. It was all she could do not to fix her hair for the fiftieth time while waiting for the water to boil. Her hair was darker, her skin was paler, and her eyes...how to explain that? 'Our children tried to raise the dead and instead brought back a monster' didn't seem like a good start.

Still, despite her appearance, she was dressed the same as always, that suspicious tattoo hidden behind the higher collar of the lavender dress.

When she heard the knock, Trisha hesitated only a moment before going to open the door, ready to greet...an otherworldly amount of flowers.

One hand lifted to her mouth to hide her smile as she reached out with her other to at least relieve him of one of the bouquets. "Oh, my... Is my husband somewhere in there, I hope?"

Hohenheim; He made a sound then that could have been a bit of laughter, but it was only for a second or two. Hohenheim shifted his arms a bit, at least enough so that two golden eyes could peer down into the familiar face. The changes were insignificant, he thought, as she was just as beautiful as he remembered.

"Trisha," he spoke up at last, though it came out as more of a whisper than anything else. He wanted to hold her, he found, but the flowers made it a bit difficult at the moment. "I wasn't sure which flower you liked," he admitted almost sheepishly as he glanced down towards the various bouquets.

His expression softening some, he took one step forward and promptly.. dropped all of the flowers on the floor. For a second or two he looked at her with an almost deadpan expression and then heaved an exasperated sigh as he dropped his head as if he were actually ashamed.

Trisha; She couldn't help it. As soon as she saw the expression on his face, that twisting in her stomach immediately disappeared, and she burst into laughter--although her version was much softer than most others.

Even after those years of being without him, and the pain of dying...how could she stay mad at him? He'd had his reasons, and she knew now without a doubt that he was still her husband.

When the laughter subsided, she looked down to the mess on the floor, then to the bouquet of carnations she was currently holding. "I think I like these best... But the other ones deserve a fighting chance too, don't you think?"

Sinking down onto her knees, Trisha began to pick up the bouquets, smiling despite knowing she would have to sweep up the stray petals after this. "I might not have enough vases... I'm still trying to get settled in."

Hohenheim; The laughter definitely helped him calm down, and he even managed to shoot her a smile before he crouched down to help her. She hadn't changed, but he couldn't help the slight pang in his chest. While he never dwelled on it, he couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if he had stayed.

Would Trisha still have color in her face? Would Edward have kept his limbs and Alphonse his body? Would they have been saved the pain that they all had to go through if he had just-- No. He had to leave, the task at hand was something that only he could do, considering the circumstances.

He had to leave them to protect them.

Hohenheim hoped, as he lifted his eyes from the ground to look at Trish yet again, that she would understand. It was her understanding, however, that made him realize that he didn't deserve someone as sweet and kind as her, let alone the gift of children. Monsters were not entitled to such precious things.

When he told himself this, however, he remembered Trisha's words. And they made him smile, just like he was right now.

Trisha; When she caught him watching her, Trisha opened her mouth as if to say something, but the kettle chose that moment to start whistling. Immediately she stood up to hurry into the kitchen, carefully setting the bouquets to prop up in the sink before she began steeping the tea leaves.

She understood that this was supposed to be a moment where her heart raced, and yet she felt nothing. She only breathed because that was habit, but she didn't know how to force her heart to beat.

"You just arrived here, didn't you? Have you been here before?"

Hohenheim; He followed her with the rest of the flowers, easing the door shut with his free hand. It was a nice apartment, he thought, but something seemed a bit off about it. It lacked the warmth their home typically had and, for one reason or another, something smelled strange. No, not so much strange, but maybe a bit foreign..

An animal?

He didn't have much time to think though, as an excited puppy came bolting from the bedroom and very ungracefully plowed into him. He teetered off balance but was quick to regain it, at least until she jumped on him. Hohenheim went down with a rather loud thud, one hand lifting the bouquets he held to protect them from puppy teeth while the other planted into the carpet.

He never knew Trish was partial to dogs.

Trisha; The sound of Hohenheim falling was hard to miss, and Trisha was quick to abandon her task of setting the table to rush out of the kitchen, expecting some sort of crime scene, only to find the beagle puppy all over him. Unfortunately, those flowers were a lost cause, but there was still a chance to save her husband's face.

"Clover!" Her voice was quiet, but her tone was still very stern, and immediately the puppy stopped to look up. Trisha snapped her fingers and pointed to the ground, and the puppy backed up, though apparently she didn't see fit to climb completely off of him yet.

Shaking her head at the hopeless sight, Trisha rested her hands on her hips for a moment before she walked over and knelt down, smoothing her skirt beneath her knees as she stared down at Hohenheim. One eyebrow perked, and she reached down to pluck a petal off of his forehead.

"You let a puppy knock you over, dear."

Hohenheim; At her amusement, Hohenheim shot her an almost dejected look before he set the flowers down and proceeded to de-puppy drool the side of his face with a sleeve. Really, he couldn't have wrestled the puppy off of him, he would have hurt it. However, now that he knew the puppy enjoyed drooling on him, he felt the need to be a bit more careful around her.

"She's so much smaller than me," he reminded her as he reached over to scratch behind the puppy's ears. "If I had moved, she would have hurt herself. Clover, was it? She's a nice dog." He felt the years catching up with him as he slowly rose to his feet and dusted his bottom off.

After he was standing, he offered her his hand to help her up.

Trisha; Shaking her head, Trisha watched as he stood back up. He really was more gentle and kind than even he knew...considering a puppy to that level. Reaching out, she pet the puppy on the head before reaching for a stray toy, tossing it so that she would go and gnaw the life out of it.

When she spotted the outstretched hand, her cheeks still warmed a bit in a blush, despite that lack of heart beat. Things never made sense anymore...

Trisha took his hand and stood up. It took a few moments for her to notice, but she couldn't sense a heart beat in him either. His hand was just slightly child, as if he'd been standing in the cold for too long.

Startled, the woman looked up to his face, eyes questioning. Couldn't be.

Hohenheim; He had been too busy watching the dog bound after the toy to notice that Trisha seemed to be a bit anxious. When he looked back at her, and noticed her eyes, his smile faltered a bit. Hohenheim placed his other hand over hers and gave it a tiny squeeze. "There are a lot of things that I have to tell you, Trisha."

He had left to protect them and, in turn, they were all put in danger.

"Yes," he eventually confirmed her suspicions. "My heart no longer beats." The air had suddenly gotten heavy, he noticed, and he found himself secretly wishing that Clover would jump back up and slobber on him. Most of the things he had to tell her, she wouldn't like them at all.

Even if he didn't want to tell her, she deserved to hear them.

Trisha; She had her suspicions, considering the lack of pulse, but to actually hear hims ay it out loud cut her deeply. She had never really thought about him ever dying. Something about her husband seemed eternal, and even if he had left, she had pictured him merely living on and on.

Edward and Alphonse... Both of their parents were dead, and they hadn't even reached the age of twenty. Wha other hardships had they suffered? How much did Hohenheim know?

Trisha wanted to ask all of that, but when she tried, all that came out was a small choked breath, and she rested her head against his shoulder while trying to regain her bearings. After everything, she couldn't save now.

Hohenheim; "Most of what I have to tell you," he began, one arm sliding around her while the other proceed to smooth itself through her hair. "You won't like it. The men in your life are reckless," he added, as if trying to lighten the mood a little. The boys really were reckless, they must have gotten that much from him -- whether they liked it or not.

Trisha was reason, she never would have let Edward and Alphonse do the things they had done were it not for the fact that-- He had to pause his thoughts as pulled away a little, so that he could get a clear view of her face. He needed to know that she was ready to hear what he had to say.

The heart, no matter if it carried a beat or not, was still fragile.

Trisha; When he looked at her, she had regained enough composure to smile again, even if it was pained. "I knew that's what I had signed on for in the beginning."

Releasing her grip on him, Trisha stepped away and turned to head back into the kitchen, where she could finish setting the table, expecting him to follow. As she took the tea pot and set it in the center of the table, she glanced back up.

"You didn't seem surprised at all when seeing me again... You know, don't you? What they tried to do, as desperate children."

Hohenheim; "I should have known when I saw them," he murmured as he followed after her, lingering at the entrance to the kitchen as he watched her prepare the table. "I only realized it when I saw the end result." His aged gold eyes drifted from her to the teapot then, as he murmured the rest beneath his breath.

"When I saw you again."

He couldn't quite place it, but this scene almost seemed eerily familiar to him. He remembered a time when he shared tea with another woman, though she would never be the one his heart yearned for. But it wasn't her that stood in front of him now, and it wasn't the Homunculus Sloth -- it was Trisha Elric.

The only woman he had ever loved.

Trisha; The cream and sugar was set out next, but her hand trembled as she set out the saucers, cups, and spoons. Saw them again? Looking at him, Trisha knew that he wasn't talking about here in the City.

"Your travels...brought you back to the boys? Back home?" Abruptly, she sat down, unable to keep herself standing any longer. She felt a bit numb now. Edward and Alphonse had met their father again? That meant that he certainly knew about her death, and...now he said he knew about what she had become.

"I'm sorry...that I wasn't there to greet you. I really did do my best...to wait."

Hohenheim; He stepped over, placing his hands on her shoulders before he went about pouring the tea himself. She had done enough, all she had to do now was enjoy the tea, he decided. As he finished pouring her cup and set the kettle down, he did little more than shake his head. "I visited you," he reassured her. "I visited you and talked clear through the night about my travels."

"The last time I saw them, Alphonse was still bound to a suit of armor." His expression softened a bit as he took a seat next to her. "To see that he's obtained his body again, I'm happy." But now? Now came the hard part of his explanation. "I didn't expect to see you again, after I returned home. I was sent to the other side of The Gate not long after I did."

He paused to take a sip of his tea.

"You can imagine my surprise when I met Edward there, in Munich. Ah, I imagine it must have been around that time that Alphonse got his body back. We lived together for a time." He heaved a sigh and sat back in his chair, wearily eying his cup. "The place of my death was there, on the other side of The Gate."

Trisha; The Gate... She'd heard mention of it. Alphonse had talked about it, but certainly not in detail. It was only mentioned when he had explained what happened to their bodies. Edward, of course, had yet to tell her anything.

Staring down at the tea cup for a bit, her brow knitted. There was another side? And he had gone there with Edward? It was all so confusing. "...Another world, then... Like one of the many connected here?"

Trisha looked up, trying her best to understand, and her hands clenched in her lap. "Did he...see?"

Hohenheim; "We should save the rest for another time." He murmured behind his cup at last, folding his hands atop of the table as he shot her a concerned glance. "I've said too much this evening and I haven't even told you I love you yet," he gave her a comforting smile before he finished the rest of the tea. "We have time, Trisha, and in that time I'll tell you everything."

He could only see her become apprehensive for so long before he began to regret speaking. There was so much that he wanted to tell her and though they had all the time in the world, there were some things that he wanted to keep private. It wasn't so much for his sake as much as it was for her own.

His eyes were so weary then, but the weariness was almost curious. They were eyes that had seen the world, eyes that had searched the ends of the Earth for a reason that he never quite found. They were the eyes of a conflicted husband, a nervous father and, yet, when these eyes fell upon her, they held nothing but kindness.

Trisha; Her tea cup remained untouched... Really, she hadn't been very thirsty, but she knew he liked tea, which was why it had been offered. And now, her stomach was in knots again for a completely different reason.

In the gap that she had died and come here again... What had her boys endured? Nobody would tell her. All she had in her head were fragments... Memories not hers.

Still, she understood that now was perhaps not the time to drill her husband for information. He had supplied enough for now... Another world. Both parents dead. It was no wonder that Edward had become even more cynical with age. She was grateful that Alphonse still retained his adorable smile, and hoped that she could see Edward's again with time.

For now, she focused on her husband and stood up to walk around the table, fingertips trailing along the edge. "But you just did, didn't you?" Once she stopped at his side, Trisha plucked the tea cup from his hands so that she could set it down and wrap her arms around his broad shoulders, resting her head against his.

"I love you, too."

Hohenheim; The scene was almost surreal, he thought.

The last time he saw her, she held him in a similar fashion and her voice was just as soft. But unlike last time, he was able to relax in the hold rather easily, tilting his face up to press a kiss just above her brow. If what Edward said had been true, and this world really held no ties to The Gate, then, perhaps this was a second chance.

A second chance to be a good father and husband.

He ran his fingers along the length of her arm, scooting back a bit so that he could gingerly pull her into his lap. It had been too long, he thought, since he had been able to hold her like this, since he'd been able to drink in her laughter as if it were the finest of wines. It was because of that, maybe, that he didn't exactly plan to let her go anytime soon.

Or ever again, for that matter.

Trisha; He was still so careful with her, as if afraid he might break her. It made her feel warm, and as she settled in his lap, she remembered why she loved him so much.

Smiling serenely, Trisha took his hand so that she could kiss his palm.. Something was different about him... The smell. It reminded her more of smoke rather than perfume.

With her head settled against his shoulder, she decided then that they would need to work together to send their sons home. It was what they deserved. But at least in this small time frame at the kitchen table, this moment was theirs, and theirs alone.