http://opfern.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] opfern.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] tampered2008-01-23 06:42 am

Log; Complete

When; January 23 [Morning].
Rating; PG
Characters; Edward Elric [[livejournal.com profile] chrysopoeia] & Alfons Heiderich [[livejournal.com profile] opfern].
Summary; Alfons couldn't avoid the tiny bastard forever. Drama ensues, but it is short lived, because even grouchy blonds need to eat breakfast.
Log;

The days since Edward had crash-landed in the City had really done little to console his confusion. In fact, every question answered just dragged up another three or four different ones instead. People he'd never met seemed to know who he was and that was unnerving. He had found himself musing on the concept briefly late on the night of the first day surrounded by the documents and notes he'd been given on the City whether it had been a similar feeling for people in Germany when he had looked on them with knowing eyes. First meetings there sometimes weren't really, for him. Ed had lain awake the night after speaking with Alfons, arms folded behind his head, flesh and cool metal against the skin at the back of his neck running his mind over so many possibilities for Alfons' reactions. None seemed to fit correctly.

Eventually, he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he could remember was the room being full of sunlight and dragging himself out of bed. He would not waste time and he would not let days drag on into weeks or even months before finding out what happened. He'd been in the City before, apparently. He couldn't remember it. Was it an alternate version of himself like the ones of others he'd seen throughout Germany? Or another him from the parallel Amestris that Lieutenant Hawkeye had informed him about. Either way, he didn't remember but could assume events had passed. He wanted to know what he, or the other Ed, had done or at least what would have happened to make Alfons so against the idea of seeing him. It made him nervous, but it was easier to feel angry than admit to fear.

So, true to his word, he had returned to speak with the boy he'd met in that world beyond the gate, the one he thought was dead, shot trying to send Edward home. Guilt. No, he wouldn't think on that. He'd stay focused. It was information gathering, they were both men of Science. Alfons would surely see his reasoning from that direction. But only if Edward fully believed it himself and he was finding that easier to decide that execute. He hovered outside the door, right arm raised and lingering between preparing to knock and actually doing so, and then mentally scolding himself. Knock the damn door. This isn't like walking through the gate. Do it. And he did, hearing the metal of his knuckles echo through the wood and held his breath, waiting.

~*~


The knock was just enough to startle him awake, but since he had been sleeping with his face resting against his palm, that result ended with his hand jerking to the side and his face slipping to collide with the desk below. Oh God, his nose. Immediately he sat up to clutch at his face, squinting at the clock nestled in between books and blueprints. Who would be visiting in the morning? He never got visitors!

Realizing that if the person kept knocking, they might wake up Franca, and since she had been up late watching movies with him, he really didn't want that to happen. So it was with a sigh that he stood up and hobbled over to the door, trying to stretch out any kinks in his muscles along the way. It was with a light cough against the back of his hand that he opened the door, and as soon as he saw the face on the other side he was quick to slam it shut.

Of course, as soon as the door closed, Alfons realized that had been a stupid reaction. He had just been surprised. He knew Edward had mentioned talking today, but he didn't expect it to be so soon and... Uch.

Taking a deep breath, Alfons opened the door again, pointedly bracing himself between the door and the frame so that no entrance was possible, smiling as brightly as the sun shone outside. "Edward! Sorry about that. I didn't want the cat to get out. Can I help you?"

~*~


Of course, Ed pulled a very unimpressed face as the door was slammed on him, an involuntary twitch of annoyance jerking his shoulder and just under one of his eyes as he was about to slam a much harder knock into the door when it cracked open again. Blinking, he tried to calm the initial anger that had flared up from such a snap reaction from Alfons, eyeing him closely through those sharp golden eyes.

He made a slight clicking noise with his tongue behind his teeth, perhaps to further shove that he was not best pleased with that as a morning greeting but who was he to argue with an excuse like that. "House-cat, huh?" He didn't even wait a beat for Alfons to confirm or deny that because honestly he didn't care. He wasn't hear to talk about Alfons' pets "Gonna shoo it away and let me in or what?" This already was not spelling a good conversation ahead. There was no way this was going to be over quickly, that much he was already sure of, and there was no way he'd talk with the German boy through the crack of a door like that.

~*~


There was a moment of awkward silence as Alfons seriously considered shutting the door on Ed's face permanently this time, but he knew quite well that the other boy's alchemy would easily override any attempt to keep him out. Cheater. Alfons had been lying about Ciro, of course. That cat was a complete wimp and was probably hiding under his bed or something.

Reluctantly, he dropped his arm from the door frame and stepped to the side to allow the other blond in. Already the mood was sour, and Alfons felt rightly ashamed of himself. He had no real excuse for acting so harshly towards Edward--at least not any excuses that he needed to know about. "Please come in. Stay quiet, though, or you'll wake Franca."

~*~


Somehow, Edward had almost been ready to put up a fight, literally or vocally, whatever it came to. However, as Alfons seemed to back down so too did his mildly aggressive stubbornness. He relaxed a little, even if his expression remained somewhat rigid before sighing heavily. A he recalled, Alfons could be a brat when he wanted to be, too. Not as much as Ed, though. It did nothing to make him feel like there was nothing to worry about with this visit.

"Sure, sure. I will." He moved a hand to the door frame, opening it a little before taking a step in, glancing at the other young man to his side then as he moved and then questioned curiously "Franca?" Ahh, questions already. Even sooner than he'd expected.

~*~


"My roommate," he answered quickly as he moved to close the door behind Edward. "I'm sure you noticed the ticking in your head when alone. A roommate keeps it at bay. Of course, your brother is here, so you already have a roommate by default."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Alfons turned to shuffle towards the kitchen. He winced at the reflection he caught in the window. He looked like something out of a bar's back alley. A shower would be in order soon, not to mention a change of clothes. Of course, Edward had seen him worse off, but that didn't make him any less self-conscious as he combed his fingers through his short hair and opened the cabinet to grab some coffee.

"So what did you want to talk about? Considering how many friends you have here, I thought all your questions would be answered by now."

~*~


"Al and the Colonel, for now, yeah. But I did notice it before and walking here. It's strange... Whole place is strange." Unexplained things caused him problems. Of course, some things were pleasant enough to be left as a mystery, others gnawed on his mind and made him want to find answers. The City itself was one such thing; it broke so many rules. Alfons was a blinding example. He was meant to be dead, but there he was. The concept made a lump rise in his throat which Edward quickly swallowed and cleared to speak again.

"Don't act dumb, Alfons." He turned a look away to the side "You're one of my friends. What made you think if you were here that I wouldn't come find you?"

~*~


Good God, Ed was living with Mustang? He thought they weren't supposed to get along. That is, when the Colonel wasn't blatantly flirting with Edward during a curse day.

Miffed at the very memory, Alfons scooped the coffee a little harsher than necessary before dumping it into the coffee press. "I knew you would come find me, but I didn't think you would be so pushy about it. We already said goodbye, didn't we? It wasn't really an 'I'll see you later' moment." Slipping the kettle underneath the faucet, he turned the water on and watched it fill. He was so groggy, he could hardly stand it, and it was making him irritable. And now he would have to wait for the water to boil.

Annoying. Just like everything else in his 'life'. "I don't know what you expect me to say, honestly. I've been stuck here for almost a year now, and I'll probably be stuck here for a million more. The best thing you can do is stop blathering on about who you're friends with and just concentrate on getting you and your brother back out."

~*~


What the hell was with that attitude? It didn't help kill off the bad mood he had developed at all, the opposite, in fact. It was like throwing fuel onto it and it caused a low growl to vibrate in his throat. Perhaps it was a slight warning, but he didn't think of it as such, it was just an expression of annoyance.

Turning his head then, he scowled with a look like an approaching storm "Did we really? As I recall I was pissed off at you for that and when I got back there wasn't a damn thing I could say about it." Of course, in a way Alfons was right. As heartbreaking as the funeral had been, Edward had been ready to let Alfons go in that way. And yet here he was. It just stirred a load of emotions up again.

He clenched his fists at his sides, trying to keep himself in check as best he could but if Alfons kept on like that he could see things taking a bad turn "What the hell is wrong with looking out for friends? You're talking like you don't matter to me at all! Al and I can be anywhere, it doesn't matter to me, and sure maybe we'll find a way home. But don't talk like I'd conveniently just ignore you being here in place of something like that. The location was not what we were working toward." The more and more he thought about the implications, the more it made him furious with Alfons' and his attitude "What do you take me for..."

~*~


The kettle was roughly shoved onto the burner before Alfons whirled to face Edward. Oh, there was no storm brewing. It was already there. After the roller coaster ride Cirucci had put him through, then Edward's sudden appearance, followed the drama that the singing curse had forced upon him, all it took for him to snap was Ed's stubborn attempt at sincerity.

"What do you take me for, Edward?! I'm sure you were told you were here before! In fact, you were here a few times! Back and forth, back and forth, like some cosmic game of tennis with my emotions! The last time you were here you didn't even recognize me. And of course I acted like a complete fool. Now you're back yet again only this time you remember me but not your time here. I'm quite sick of this!"

His voice had raised, and Alfons was quick to lower it when he realized it could awaken the young girl from her slumber in her room. "You have no idea what I've been through since I've been here, and I would like to keep it that way. You only had to say goodbye to me once, but it's been several times over for me. I don't need another one! It would be best if you just left me alone."

~*~


The sudden wave of tension breaking and spilling into that onslaught of words from Alfons caught Edward off guard, his breath catching harshly in his windpipe and his heart wrenching painfully with an odd sense of sickening realization. He really had been here before. More than once and from various different times. And he didn't remember a damn thing. It made him feel strange, nauseous almost. He didn't like the blankness that existed in his mind when he thought of the City. A gloved hang moved to his forehead, slips of his hair shifting between his fingers as his eyes closed, willing himself to remember. Nothing. The hand moved down then, over his eyes and then further to cover his mouth, holding it there for a moment or two before he swallowed heavily for a second time.

He shifted his gaze back to Alfons then swiftly, pulling his hand away and glaring at him firmly as he hissed at the other boy, loud enough for him to be heard and the annoyance to be noticed, but hopefully not enough to wake his roommate "I'm not going anywhere. We have no home, Al and I. We have nowhere to go back to. And talking like I should forget you. I don't care how many times I have or haven't come back or forth here, the current me can't just turn away and pretend I don't know you."

The back teeth in his jaw ground together, forcing himself to take a deep breath, maybe count to ten. He got to five. "I'm not going to act like I understand what's happened to you here, because I don't and try as I might I can't remember a damn thing. Regardless of that..." he trailed off, frowning at him. What? He was sorry? Maybe. But what for? He had no fucking clue and it drove him mad. He'd done something to Alfons to have him acting that way, hadn't he? He sighed, firming his expression "I won't ignore you, Alfons. You know me better than that."

~*~


Alfons' lips drew a firm line on his face as he folded his arms across his chest and gave Edward a good long look. But really, it was so damned impossible to hold his ground on this, because...because this was Edward. An Edward who had absolutely no idea just how infatuated he was. I certainly know how to pick them.

His resolve was quick to crumble, then, and Alfons immediately averted his gaze, voice soft. "I know you better than you'll ever understand." He knew things about Ed that he never wanted anyone else to know, but of course...the current Ed would have no clue what he was talking about. So, with a sigh, he cast a worn look towards the kettle. The twisted reflection seemed to be mocking him.

"If you're staying for breakfast, then I'm going to take a shower. I trust you've figured out how to use one of these stoves by now, haven't you? Just pour the water in the coffee press when it boils. Don't touch anything else." The last thing he needed was Ed blowing the kitchen up because he had discovered the microwave.

The young man watched as the small white cat wandered into the kitchen to rub against Edward's ankle. He was normally a shy cat, but apparently he remembered him. This seemed to make Alfons even more forlorn as he dropped his arms to trudge out of the kitchen. Once he had cleaned himself up, he could try to figure out what to make for breakfast. He would probably have to make it a meal for five, with Ed's appetite.

~*~


The comment about how well Alfons knew him made a confused look cross his face, perhaps about to question it before the other boy spoke once more. He frowned a little to himself at the swift explanation of the stove. He was finding the City a culture shock for several reasons, the technology was one of them. He wasn't about to admit to Alfons that he, skilled man of Science that he was, hadn't focused on the items meant to help for trivial tasks around the house because he had been reading up on other things. Adjusting to the advances would be next on the list of things to distract himself with. But hey, how much different could it be compared to the stoves he'd seen back home?

And he was cocky as ever about that, waving a hand lightly and grinning "Sure, whatever you say. Nothing to worry about! It's just--" He blinked as he felt something around his leg, lowing a glance then curiously to look at the cat winding around him. Honestly, he was a little relived to see that Alfons really had a cat after all. He smiled a little, lowering himself to press a knee against the floor as his hand moved to pet the little white cat "Have a good shower." Hopefully, the apartment would be in tact when Alfons returned.

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