riverviewlogs | [open & closed prompts]

Entry tags:

[open & closed prompts]

who: Edward Elric & Anyone
what: Catch-all for January/February
when: Probably January 15th-February 15th-ish, but honestly whenever works
where: Locations included in prompts below
warnings: None that I can think of, will add as needed

When Val disappeared after going to investigate the portal, Ed has his theories about what that meant. She wouldn't have gone home without saying goodbye, and she wouldn't have left to go anywhere else without telling him, and there was only one way to go through that portal by accident. Whether she left intentionally or not wasn't the issue, the issue was that she had left without notice and that meant that he had to deal with that reality in the here and now.

Which, for Ed, meant needing some time alone to think. He would have followed after her if he thought the portal would lead him to where she went, but he knew it wasn't as easy as that. If the direction of the portal had changed since she disappeared by the time he got to it, there was nothing to gain by going through. Still, he knew the only way he was going to get a break from everyone was by going away for awhile.

So, that's what he did. Packed up, said his goodbyes to everyone as if he was actually leaving and disappeared the only way he could while still trapped on this moon. By disconnecting his device and hiding out beyond the wall. There were a few places he'd stop during his time absent from living within the city limits, if someone really wanted to find him they probably could. Alternately, if someone was the type to wander around outside of the wall they could also bump into him by chance either when he's not hiding out in a building or by exploring the building he happens to be hiding out in.

By the time the monthly holiday had begun Ed had already disappeared, but it wasn't hard to follow along with what was going on in the city. Does this bring me joy? was hardly a concept he wanted to think about at this point, which only made it all the more appropriate that he wasn't around to deal with things when this tradition occurred. Of course, he couldn't stay away forever, there were obligations to take care of for one thing, he just needed time to clear his head and work out what to do moving forward. If there was one thing Ed was a firm believer in, it was doing what had to be done to keep going.

So, after about a week of solitude, one Edward Elric was back on the roster with a new username, lacking the memories of someone that had been there all along.

[Below will be open and closed prompts from planning with other players. If you'd like to throw your character at one of the more open prompts, feel free! Otherwise, wildcard and toss in your own starter/top level and I'll respond to it. Any plotting can be done over plurk at

Transmutedself, or via PM if you don't have a plurk! Open to discussing TDM and holiday prompts as well.]

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All characters (whose player wish it) will have received a message - text, voicemail, video - or in person visit to let them know that Ed was leaving. This was mostly to keep up appearances that he went through the portal. Feel free to reply here if you'd like to thread that out and I haven't hit up your inbox.

Keith was curious, to say the least, as to why Ed was asking to meet him, but he went all the same. He didn't have either Lion with him when he arrived, either, instead opting to leave them at home. He walked into the store, giving a quick glance around at the place, before looking for Ed.

"Hey," he said. "You wanted to see me about something?"

The easiest way to do this in private was to go through the store, where Alphonse wouldn't overhear the conversation as long as the doors were securely closed. Ed had a long list of people to talk to before pulling this off, and he had to do it all in short order before telling his brother - or risk word reaching him before could say anything himself.

When Keith arrived Ed just offered him a weak smile. "Ah, yeah. I just wanted to let you know I'm heading out. A friend of mine went through the portal and ... she doesn't really have anyone else, so I'm going after her." He doesn't even care that others might poke holes in that theory when they realize he couldn't ensure the portal would send him the same place Valeria went, but maybe they'd assume he was just being reckless and hoping it might.

He shifted some, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal. Goodbyes were always awkward, "I'm trying to let as many people know as I can before heading out, that's all."

Keith frowned for exactly the reason Ed might have been concerned about. The portal wasn't a guaranteed trip.

"That's pretty risky, isn't it?" he asked. He'd considered the same, honestly, when he heard that Allura had been in Riverview before, and he and Shiro had gone to investigate. They'd come across the Lions instead, but still... Keith couldn't help but worry that Allura had done exactly the same thing, and wound up going through at the wrong time. And now Ed was going to attempt it... not only going back to a world that likely wasn't his, but risking the chance that he'll end up somewhere completely different than where he was trying to go.

"Why didn't you two go together? Is that something they can do?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Following after someone shortly after they vanished was more likely to be a success than going after a person you'd only been told was here months before, but Ed wouldn't voice that thought because he didn't know what Keith had considered. It was still recent enough that the portal could still be pointed in the right direction.

"Val wouldn't have left." Not intentionally, not without him, and that was the part that stung most. Either he had to live here with the knowledge that they were building a life in this place only for her to vanish without a word, without consideration. Or he had to live here knowing that she disappeared without a word because she had no other choice.

"She was doing a lot of independent research on the portal, I think she got pulled in somehow, maybe she fell or got pushed-" Not important. "This place ... It's practically a permanent vacation after the one we came from, we had so many plans here. We promised each other-" Broken promises seemed to be all Ed was good at, anymore. "She had nothing to go back for, she has no one else... If I stay here and do nothing she'll stay that way, at least if I try to follow her there's a chance she won't have to be alone anymore."

Valeria had him, just him, and this particular version of him. The people he was leaving behind here? They all had each other, they had people they could rely on and Al had the option to go home and be with the version of Ed that was there. It wasn't a flawless plan, but it was the most logical one. If he actually believed the portal would send him where he wanted to go, at least.

"The way this place works? If I'm not meant to go after her... I'll be back sooner than you think."

"How much about it did she find out?" Keith asked. "I mean... if it's stuff that could be useful..." There had to be something, right? But, back to the conversation at hand.

"Maybe you'll be back... or maybe something else will happen. Something you don't know about."

"We collaborated our research, I'm not sure how much she found out before disappearing if it's not something in my notes. I can have Jason get you whatever we did have, but it's not much." It wasn't much because it wasn't what he'd wanted to hear. "The researchers of the portal have most of the information already, there's a whole organization here dedicated to that line of work it barely compares to whatever we pulled up on our downtime." Researching the portal hadn't exactly been his highest priority once he found that it wasn't going to be sending people back against their will, supposedly.

"Maybe. If I don't try I won't know." Ed logic, what could possibly be worse than Purg at this point. He's extremely confident in the power of feeling displaced and winding up right back where he left off, at least that's what he's selling as his reasoning. He knows he'll be back because he's not actually going anywhere, just can't tell Keith that.

"It might not be a bad idea to compile stuff, then... you know... it might not look like much, but maybe someone else can do something with it." Keith had learned that in the past. He was really good at gathering information. Interpreting it was a whole different ballgame, and he found that, when he gave what he found to other people, they could sometimes find things he'd missed.

Keith sighed a little, though, at Ed's reasoning. It sounded flakey to him. Not that he hadn't used that reason himself for a dozen or more things in his own life, but he wasn't sure if he liked hearing it from the other side of the conversation.

"I guess," he relented. "Just be careful."

"I'll have him get you a copy of everything, maybe you'll notice something we didn't. Or someone else might. I don't want the research to stop just because we're gone." Especially considering he was coming right back.

The ability to decide something was perfectly rational when they did it was clearly a shared trait, Ed wouldn't be reasoned with but if someone else was trying what he'd just claimed he would be the first to call them nuts over it.

"I will." And he'll offer Keith a quick smile, once he does relent. "Let everyone know... Shiro, Lola... In case I don't get a chance to say goodbye, myself." He was particularly concerned about Lola hearing it considering their conversation about friends disappearing on them in the past. First Li, then Yuffie.

Keith nodded.

"Yeah..." Keith frowned a little. Team Abandonment Issues, for the win? "I'll let them know." Lola wasn't going to like it, but better either Ed or Keith to tell her than for her to find out by chance after all was said and done. Keith had lost enough people on his own to know how that felt.

"Good luck."

Before he left there were a few things he wanted to get done. People to say goodbye to, messages to leave and make sure to take care of the people who he felt needed it most. He left small things for a few of his closer friends, but his relationship with Laura wasn't quite the same. He didn't want to just leave them behind without a word and he wasn't going to go looking for her where she lived, which left him with one logical option. The roof top of the communal building.

Guessing when she might be there was the hardest part of all, but Ed took the risk and ventured that way anyway. In his hand he carried a small box and when he found her he simply took a seat near the edge of the building, the same as usual.

"Hey kid, thought I'd find you up here." If it's school hours he doesn't seem the least bit disturbed by that fact. "I brought you something."

It maaay be school hours. Maybe. She turns toward him expectantly, her sunglasses pushed up to her forehead as she studies him with mute interest. Something for her, huh? Her eyes are alight with interest, and she turns slightly from where her feet are dangling through the protective railings.

"... Something for me?"

People sometimes do that, and it's always strange and unusual to her — but appreciated nonetheless.

Though, something about this offering feels bittersweet.

"Yeah," He's just going to smile at the question and hold out the box for her to take. This wasn't like the small amusement park rides he'd gifted her before, but if he notices that she's aware something was different this time he doesn't comment on it. "Here."

Inside the box are two keys, completely different looking - one antique and stylized, the other more modern and simple. Under the keys there's a note. The note is just directions to both locations and which key is for which. "I need to head out for a bit, but I didn't want to leave you stranded." She's not his responsibility, and he knows that, but he still cares and if she ever winds up in a situation where she needs to get away again? He'd rather she have her own place to escape to than hide out in an alley by a dumpster.

"There's a place outside the wall, and a room in the building I own. I cleaned them up a bit, set them up for you. You don't have to use them if you don't want to, but if you ever need them you've got options. I don't know when I'm coming back or what I'll remember when I do... but that's your space, no one needs to know you're there or when you use them. No one else knows about them, just us." Which means if she doesn't tell anyone no one would know where she was with Ed gone.

Ah, there it is. Someone else she's come to know leaving her — and so she can't help but look disappointed, carefully reaching out to hold the keys in her hand, to roll them around. She knows it's better than usual; Edward isn't exactly dying, not like so many have that she's come to appreciate back home... but it still sucks, in that selfish way. He's going home then. And he's leaving her this, some sort of last safe haven he can provide. It's all nice and terrible at the same time.

"... Will you be safe?"

Everyone wants to go home, more than likely. Even Laura has some part of her that would go home, if only to try and bring her friends here, to keep them safe. Probably not what Ed's going for, but...

Ed, of course, knows that Laura has lost people. He hadn't forgotten their conversation, the topic on which they could probably relate to each other the most. At the question he can't help but smile, of all the things for her to be concerned about - but of course she was.

"I will. Which is why I want to make sure you're safe too, while I'm gone." He's not going to pretend with her, although the implication was that he was leaving Riverview he hadn't outright said as much. Just that he had to go take care of some things and that he'd be back eventually, sooner rather than later. It was easier for everyone to believe that he was leaving, he'd lied to a few people to make this work but with her it was more omission than anything else.

"That note is proof that those spaces are your's, if anyone tries to give you trouble." He doesn't think anyone will, but he knew how to cover his bases. "I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

Laura nods. It's a rather unenthusiastic one, but it's silly to think it'd be any different.

She likes you, Ed. It's a sad occasion.

"If they give me trouble, I'll just throw them into a tree."

A pause, as she thinks about what her social worker would and wouldn't approve of.

"... Or I guess... just push them over and leave."

He'll miss her, but he's trying not to make this any more somber than it already is, after all he knows the parting is no big deal.

Don't make him laugh, Laura, this is serious. He can't help it though, shaking his head at the suggestion. Throwing people into trees was hardly necessary, and maybe he should be discouraging her from acting out in ways that might get her into trouble.

"Trust me, I think the note will cover it. Keep it somewhere safe. Try not to push anyone unless you have to." He might be a little more lenient about that than her case worker.

She nods firmly, determined as she grips the edge of the paper note.

"You, too. Push if you have to." A pause. "... Do you think you'll be fighting?"

It's a concern. She'd rather know he's off fighting than be in the dark, though.

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[open & closed prompts]

Ed's Previous CR - Goodbye Messages and Meetings

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Closed - Laura

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