riverview | ⁰² video (𝗎𝗇: 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽)

Entry tags:

⁰² video (𝗎𝗇: 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽)

[ once the festival is over, as elrics tend to do, they've turned a corner of the room into a research space for the time being, surrounded by books as they read on the couch. although things started productively enough, after some time leaning against his brother reading, ed slips down to stretch out facing the back of the sofa where he's eventually fallen asleep, long hair loose down his back and draped over the cushions to the floor - whatever book he's been reading forgotten in favor of getting more comfortable.

al, meanwhile, is sitting up with a frown on his features. his fingers card through his brother's hair in a slow, affectionate gesture, one that denotes just how close the two brothers are. at one point, he reaches over to grab his brother's slowly falling book and sets it aside before addressing the feed. ]

So many people have forgotten things. It's strange; I thought things were settled when that god was put to sleep. I think it's affected my brother too.

[ he pauses to card his fingers through his brother's hair again. ] He's been acting a bit differently, but don't tell him.

Anyway, how many people have lost memories? I've seen at least three people on the network so far. Anyone else? Maybe if we figure out who's affected, we can find a solution...

[ ooc: post is also open for floor 6 people and visitors! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's at this point that Al realizes he'll have to explain further. That he can tell something is missing from Ed's mind and that must be why he's been so easy to be around. Less flinching, less tenseness, and though he doesn't want to lose that part of his brother, he knows that keeping things from him is worse.

"Do you think you've been affected?" he asks tentatively, seeking out his brother's eyes. If Jay and Yuffie have been affected, it stands to reason that even he could be forgetting something. But it doesn't feel like he has. Only that maybe his brother has.

Ed blinked at that question, looking at Al as if the idea was completely ridiculous for a split second before a more reserved concern overcame his expression. "Nothing I've noticed."

He's not stupid though, he knows Al's asking for a reason and that alone was unsettling. Golden eyes searched his brother's expression, already knowing he wasn't going to like the answer to the question before it was even asked, "Do you think so?" If anyone would know that Edward was acting off it was Al, which meant that chances were if Alphonse suspected something it was for a reason.

After all, everyone like Jay that he'd talked to didn't know they were affected either, but he'd never considered himself. He remembered home, he remembered Purg and Attollo, and he knew where he was here.

Sighing a little as Ed's expression drops, Al begins to wonder if maybe it was best if he didn't press the subject. Maybe he shouldn't have even brought it up at all. But it's out there now and if he tried to drop it, Ed would undoubtedly press for answers. So he sighs again and shakes his head.

"You've been... a bit different," he replies, chewing on his lip.

His eyes narrow some at the sigh, if he wasn't going to press it he certainly would now. He's still watching Al carefully, sighing and chewing on his lip and acting like maybe he'd like to go back in time and prevent this conversation from happening. Ed's noticing all of it and that only serves to make him more suspicious.

"All right, Al. Out with it, different how?" He resists the urge to ask why his brother hadn't brought this up before now, if he suspected something. Alphonse was obviously struggling with whatever it was, which meant he must suspect something big and Ed couldn't wrap his mind around whatever he could be missing that had Al this worried.

Instead of answering right away, Al glances down at the book he'd just set aside. In his head, he's trying to formulate the best way to answer because he's not sure what Ed might have forgotten if he's forgotten anything at all. Maybe the lack of tenseness is because Ed has gotten over that initial pain and horror of having had to kill his little brother and Al is just looking too deeply into things. But still, he has to know why and if Ed is truly over the events in Purg. So he lifts his eyes and finds Ed's again.

"You've been a lot more... relaxed, lately." He doesn't know any other way to put it.

He blinks at that response, still watching Al curiously. There was something behind those words that he didn't understand, but he could gather that much. Even if with all of his memories he'd brush that idea off as ridiculous, without them Ed is wondering what he must have been like before for this to be the first place Al goes with this information.

"So... You think I forgot something that was bothering me." This sounded so minor and temporary, he was sure whatever it was he'd get over it in time. For all he knew it was something he needed to take care of and once it was dealt with things would go back to normal. That didn't give him any hint as to what though, and Alphonse was acting serious about it.

"Something important, at least," Al murmurs, casting his gaze away again. He's not sure what it is, but he has a few guesses. If it's anything like what happened in Purg, that would be a reason for Ed to stop flinching around him, to stop withdrawing. Sure, Ed was already beginning to do that, but the way he suddenly had become much more comfortable with his little brother's tendency to seek out touch makes Al wonder if his original reason for being withdrawn has been taken from his head.

It's enough to make Al worry, especially with others also experience forgetfulness.

"Brother, what would you say is the worst thing to happen to us? Aside from... from Mom."

Ed is growing frustrated with the way Al is being so indirect, but not necessarily at Al. His brother was clearly dealing with something he had no concept of and if anything that only made him worried. He's watching Al curiously as his brother speaks, with growing concern.

He gives Al a look at the question, because as far as he was concerned it came out of nowhere, but he realizes Al's trying to piece things together so after a somewhat wary glance he exhales slowly. "You mean the transmutation?" He would think the next thing would be having to kill Sloth, but he's not sure what answer his brother's looking for.

After a moment he shifts, as if uncomfortable with the topic. "Al, you know I don't know everything that's happened in your life... You were still armor back home-" He doesn't finish that thought, but he figures his brother knows where he's going with it.

"And you died," he finishes the last bit when Ed doesn't. Of course, he knows Ed hasn't experienced it yet, but they both knew that was in Ed's future and in Al's past. If that hadn't happened, Al wouldn't be sitting there with his brother, flesh and blood. Still, it was a traumatic moment in their lives and there's only one other that Al can think of that would've been even more traumatic. Not for him, because he never experienced it, but for Ed who had in Purg. His suspicions are beginning to be confirmed but not quite yet.

"But that's not what I'm taking about. I'm thinking about something that happened in the place you told me about. Purg, you called it."

"Right..." Honestly, he doesn't always remember that part until it comes up. It hasn't happened yet, it's not part of his actual memory, but that hardly seemed the important part now. "That's the only reason you got your body back, Al..." For him it was hardly as traumatizing, especially with the disconnection that he hadn't experienced it.

Al continues though and he blinks, glancing away as if trying to figure out what Al could be referencing. For some reason he thinks of Lockon and the beach, an argument he can't really remember the details of, but Al hadn't been a part of that so it didn't make sense in the context of what his brother was asking.

"A lot of things happened in Purg, Al. That place was a horror show." That's not entirely a direct answer, but it's probably enough of one to confirm his brother's suspicions. Ed couldn't think of anything in Purg that had been traumatizing between them. "Nina was there... They threatened me for questioning that-" A pause. "Then there was the haunting..." A shrug, looking back at Al before seeming to realize what his brother had said. "If I told you about it, you know." He doesn't ask the question, why doesn't Al just tell him what he thinks he forgot? Ed's starting to doubt he wants to know.

That's it. Ed doesn't bring up the murder, the horror of having killed his own brother. And suddenly Al tenses. He doesn't want to make Ed remember. He doesn't want his brother to recall that moment, especially since he hadn't been there for it to happen. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, clearly unsure what to say next. But eventually, deciding he doesn't want to lose this he has with his brother now, he flops forward against his brother and buries his face in Ed's shirt. He'd give anything to take away the memory forever if it meant he could keep Ed from remembering, from tensing up in his proximity, from going back to the paranoid and hard-edged Ed he'd been when Al had first arrived.

"I guess I was wrong. I just thought maybe... But I'm being dumb," he says with a shrug, fingers clasping at Ed's shirt.

Edited 2017-08-26 02:05 (UTC)

He notices all of this as it goes down, his habit of watching people had become so ingrained he barely notices that he does it anymore. The way Al tenses, opens and closes his mouth as if there was more to say but he couldn't find the words. When Al moves forward, burying his face against Ed's chest he settles his arms over his brother's shoulders loosely.

"You're not being dumb, Al." He reassures quietly, but the memory of the beach still lingered in his mind. He remembers talking to Al on the beach too, here not in Purg - which left him with a strange unsettled feeling. He couldn't remember that conversation either, but it couldn't be what his brother was talking about if it happened here rather than in Purg. None of it made sense.

As far as he was concerned, right now, if his brother didn't want to tell him whatever he suspected he wasn't going to ask. Whatever it was had to be more traumatizing than any of the memories he'd conjured, Al was clearly holding back. Maybe to spare him but at the moment it was Alphonse's feelings Ed was worried about, if he didn't want to talk about it he wasn't going to pry. Not now at least, there would be time for it later.

Quietly, as if reluctant to throw away the chance to dismiss this whole conversation Ed adds softly, "There are some conversations I don't fully remember... I remember having them but- not what was said. I guess I could be affected somehow." Even if years ago he'd been the one to assure Al that sometimes memories just worked like that, there was something about these conversations that felt almost tampered with, like he should remember them but something was blocking the memory.

Al remembers when he'd questioned his own memories, how it had made him wonder if he was real at all. Barry the Chopper had done a number on his head that night, and Al was glad he was past it. But he still knew what it was like to have missing memories. Those of the time after they'd tried to bring back their mother had been missing for two years and though he now had them back, it was still a bit strange trying to mesh all the memories together. He wondered if maybe Ed felt the same way. That sense of unease that came with not having the full story. It made Al want to explain everything, but even he didn't know all the details of what happened in Purg.

Burying himself a little further against his brother and clutching at his shirt, he shakes his head. If his brother is affected, he'd do what he can to help, but hopefully not have to describe what was forgotten.

"It doesn't matter, Brother. As long as we don't forget each other, it's fine. Maybe those memories aren't as important as we thought..."

It was kind of odd the way this situation almost mirrored their past. Before it had been Ed who had the answers about Al's memories but he was holding back for his own reasons, afraid to know the truth. Now, Alphonse knew what was missing for Ed but couldn't tell him.

For his own part, Edward wouldn't even mind except that Al had put so much weight on it. The worst thing that ever happened between them, and it happened in Purg, which meant it wasn't even really part of their lives on their own world. He's not sure if that's a relief or even more stressful, to know that something happened between them that never needed to and wouldn't have if he hadn't been brought to that place.

"You're right, Al." His fingers idly thread through his brother's hair as Alphonse leans closer. "As long as we have each other we can take on anything." He doesn't comment on the rest, if it was so traumatizing he was sure it was important to remember. The worst thing that happened to them, something important enough that he'd told Al about it as soon as he got here, and he couldn't remember anything about it. "I wouldn't worry about it... If they are, they'll come back eventually."

The touch to his hair is comforting. This is the version of his brother he doesn't want to lose and desperately wants to stay. But he feels guilty about withholding the truth. It's not right, even though they've kept secrets from each other in the past. He's always felt guilty when it came down to keeping things from Ed, but in this case he knows his guilt will fade. It's for the best, he tells himself and nuzzles more against his brother.

What he doesn't tell his brother is that he hopes the memories don't come back. If they do, it might mean a distant Ed again, something Al would hate to see. They've both come so far, been through so much that to have to experience the pain again makes something hard and bitter raise in his throat. He swallows it down, determined not to let it get to him.

"Maybe..." he whispers, closing his eyes. "I don't care if they don't."

He is concerned about why Al is withholding the information, but Ed figures that the truth will come out eventually, and when it does he'll understand why his brother is reluctant to tell him whatever happened.

His grip on his brother tightens as Al nuzzles closer, as if to reassure him. There is a stab of hurt at the thought that Alphonse wishes for these memories to stay gone so badly. He doesn't exactly understand why Al wouldn't want him to know, but at the same time he does get that he's concerned about the level of pain they caused. The last thing Ed wants is for whatever this was to come between them, but he couldn't help feeling guilty for wishing - despite Al's words - that he did know.

"I guess we'll see, won't we?" He shifts, leaning back slightly to tilt his head, trying to meet Al's gaze as he speaks again. "Either way, whatever it is won't change anything between us, right?" He doesn't know what it is, but he's determined to keep his word on that.

Looking up into his brother's eyes, there's a glint of determination in his own. Let memories come between them? He remembers the fight he'd had with Ed when he thought that his memories had been fake as well as the face Ed had made when he'd left the hospital. There's no way he'd allow that to happen again. He didn't want to see Ed broken like that, didn't want to make his brother think they'd ever part. So he nods fervently and makes a noise in the back of his throat.

"Right. I won't let it, Brother. I promise," he assures Ed and he's just as determined to keep his word on that as Ed is on his part.

He feels a mix of emotions at the determination in his brother's gaze. Al, who knew what he'd forgotten was going to take on the burden of not letting whatever the memory was come between them. Even though it was Ed who had forgotten, and by that logic, Ed who might change once he remembered. He didn't like that idea, but he couldn't argue the point knowing that he had no idea what it was that could possibly come between them.

"Me too, Al." He'd just have to deal with whatever that meant when the time came.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

⁰² video (𝗎𝗇: 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject