[Closed]

[alchemyfreak]

who: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Valeria Myles (Possibly Others)
what: Backdated Catch All for October
when: After Val's arrival
where: General Store, Communal Housing, Possibly Other
warnings: That Horror Game CRAU Life - Hospital/Horror/Silent Hill/Pyramid Head References.

Comments

[alkahestic]

It won't happen again!

[ alphonse feels certain of this, eyes flashing with determination. ]

I may not understand, but I know it won't happen again. We're not there, not in that place that made you do it and neither are we the same as that time. We have friends here to help us, we have people we can go to. And if you did try, you can bet I'd kick your butt!

[ stepping close to ed, he reaches out to brush long, flaxen bangs from his brother's features. ]

We won't let it happen again. I'll make sure of it, somehow.

[alchemyfreak]

[Of course, Al might as well be reading the script of previous conversations when he argues that it won't happen again. He just gives a tired nod, because he knows there's no arguing it. No point in saying that before it happened they would have said it wasn't possible in the first place. When Al points out that this isn't Purg though all Ed can do in response is laugh. Humorless as golden eyes close briefly.]

I told you, Al. That place had nothing to do with it. What happened there could happen here just as easily, people arrive here with their abilities fully in tact. At least in Purg there was a month long probation to earn them back, no one could show up on day one and be a complete danger to everyone. Still, it happened. This place? We're even more defenseless here...

[Nothing was regulated and although Ed was not paranoid about that little detail, it did still come to mind when this situation was brought up. Either way, it wasn't even the fear of doing it that paralyzed him, it was the visual. The mental replay his brain helpfully supplied when he got too close. He'd had to deal with it, had to ignore it - which made it much easier now to be closer to his brother, but it didn't erase it completely.]

[alkahestic]

But we're not, Brother. That's the thing. Maybe if it was just you and me having to face something like that, but we have friends here.

[ he sees the strain in his brother's features and steps closer. his hands are held out, palms up in a beseeching manner as if he wants ed to take them in his own and al does. he wants to somehow make ed see and feel and believe what he does, but it doesn't work that way and he has to find the words to talk it out. ]

We have lots of friends here. Powerful friends. Jason would help, he's smart and strong. And even if I don't know Nico very well, he seems very powerful too. Didn't he say he's a demigod? That's gotta be something.

[alchemyfreak]

[He doesn't take Al's hands, doesn't even look directly at him. He can't when Alphonse is so focused on his own point he's not even listening to his brother's. His expression flickers, there's pain there but he realizes that Al is never going to understand - they're both too stubborn.]

You don't get it. We had friends there, too. More friends, and maybe Nico's more powerful but one person with power doesn't automatically compare to a whole city. Do you really think you can tell me how this place is different from somewhere I lived for years? You weren't there, as you've pointed out. It wasn't just you and me, and it still happened.

[Nevermind the fact that Al doesn't even acknowledge the part that is the real issue. More than the concern that it could happen again, Ed's dealing with the fact that it even happened in the first place. Or he should be, if he hadn't spent so much time repressing it.]

Forget it.