fossilised | Snowblind Body Shenanigans

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Snowblind Body Shenanigans

This is an open post for anyone set in Norfinbury. It's a random scenario where @Admin has (for mysterious meme reasons) decided to give Al his body back. This isn't game canon, obviously, I just wanted to play about with Al in his body as it will never happen in game. Action and network responses are welcome, as well as fudging the locations of characters.

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[Al has become used to his periods of unconsciousness during the night now. He still can't think of them as sleep, not without dreams or his real body to rest in, but they're at least predictable. Usually he wakes quickly and without any grogginess that would come from real sleep, but today everything has changed.

He wakes up slowly that morning.

As soon as he wakes up, he knows everything is different. He can feel the wooden flooring under his back, rough and splintered, and hear the thud of his heart beating in his ears. He lifts one stick thin arm in amazement to stare at it, almost uncomprehending as he looks at his fingers splayed out in front of his eyes. This must be a dream. It has to be a dream, his first one in years, but... God, it feels so real.

He's in a state of shock as he pulls up to unsteady feet and scoops up his tablet automatically. He can barely keep hold of it, his fingers have none of his usual dexterity and his hands are trembling violently. It's this trembling that causes his fingers to slip and activate the video feed. The camera is at a strange angle, but it shows the upper half of a teenage boy in an extreme state of emaciation. His ribs are protruding and his stomach is concave. He has long blond hair that hangs down over one eye, the other one is wide and staring in surprise.

His legs seem ready to fold almost at once, but he forces himself to walk to the door and open it. The sunlight on the snow almost blinds him, and the wind causes goosebumps to raise on his skin immediately. He sets one bare foot in the snow and gasps, a delighted and amazed sound.]

Wow, it's so cold...

[He laughs softly, unable to stop the sheer wonder bubbling out of him. Is this real? Can it truly be so?]

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[ Ed cannot think of snow or cold right now -- he can only think of his brother, wrapped in his arms. His real live brother, in his real body. it makes his heart practically burst. ]

It's... it's not a trick? It's not ...

[ he falls with Al of course and laughs the whole way, happy tears streaming down the apples of his cheeks. ]

I didn't think -- It's you, Al.

Yeah.

[It's more of a stunned exhalation than it is a proper reply. He is aching all over from his crash backwards into the snow, and there's a dull pain in his right shoulder that suggests he might have cracked one of his stupidly brittle bones.]

I don't know what happened, Brother.

[That's the only concerning thing, the only thing that's keeping his joy from being complete. What if they used a philosopher's stone on him? What if--?!]

[ funny, how quickly joy can turn into utter dread. it's almost instant, the way the fear rushes through him, stunts the happiness he felt before. he sits back, offering his hands to his brother to help him up. ]

... this just... happened?

[ he isn't sure how to battle his emotions, because there are a million reasons it could be this way. people in Norfinbury died and came back different. they just didn't wake up different like Al did. right? so if Al didn't just return differently, but changed...? ]

H-hey, let's get you in out of the cold, okay? Get you bundled up. You must be freezing.

[This would have taken on a whole extra layer of NOT OKAY if he had come back like this after dying. To come back at all after dying would have been a traumatic experience, but to have his body back too would have simply made him all the more sure that a philosopher's stone and human transmutation were involved.]

R-Right, sorry.

[He takes Ed's hand and tries to get to his feet, but tugging only makes him absolutely sure that he's cracked his shoulder and he falls back into the snow with a pained exclamation.]

A-AH!

Al? Al!

[ he moves to crouch in the snow beside his brother, wide eyed and worried. ] Hey, what is it? what's wrong?

[ he looks over his brother, unsure of what is wrong. he's only ever had to repair metal and armour and now this? the joy still thrums in his chest but he is equally worried. did he hurt Al? is Al even okay enough to be here like this?

or worse. if it was human transmutation, with a false philosopher's stone... was it failing? ]

[His expression is a weird blend of pain and exhilaration. It takes a few moments for the fringes of white around his vision to fade and Ed's face to come into clear focus above him.]

I think I broke something when you knocked us over.

[He sounds amazed, and definitely not blaming Ed. His bones are ridiculously brittle, even falling the wrong way could shatter them. He gives a sudden a delighted chuckle.]

I forgot I could feel pain, isn't that funny?

I... I'm sorry.

[ Al breaking something here, when they have no alchemy, when they have no real doctor or medicine. fear knifes through Edward. ]

It's... well -- [ he wants to be happy, of course, because Al is about to start a new journey, a new life in his body again, but here of all places? he reaches forward and carefully hugs Al, tugging him close, holding him firmly, but not too tightly. ]

We'll just have to get you healthy again, yeah? Then all of Norfinbury better watch out. Let's get you inside. [ and whether or not his brother protests he doesn't care -- he dips and reaches to pick his brother up. no more broken bones, thank you very much. ]

[He hates seeing the worry painting Ed's face, but even that can't dull the wonder he's feeling at the moment. He wishes that Ed could feel what he feels, not the pain but the simple joy of feeling pain at all, and then he wouldn't be looking so afraid.]

...Mm.

[He doesn't argue as he's picked up, nestling a little more closely into Ed's embrace. His brother is so warm, and he seems to big now after having to look down on him for so many years.]

I can hear your heartbeat, Brother.

[His body still hurts, his shoulder more so than anywhere else for the break, but it can't stop him from fixating on this new source of amazement.]

It's so strong.

[ perhaps he is not experiencing pain for the first time, or hearing and feeling all of these new things that Al is, but seeing the absolute joy and amazement on his brother's face is enough. ]

Yeah, I'd hope so. I was worried, this kind of cold isn't good for anyone, you know.

[ Al is so impossibly light in his arms and that scares him more than anything. he gets his brother inside and kicks the door shut behind him, taking his brother to a spot where he has some blankets and things set up for sleeping. only then does he gingerly sit Al down, careful not to jostle him too much. because once Al is down? Ed starts peeling off his coat. ]

Need to get you warm.

[It's only when he's been set down among the blankets, and the elation is beginning to fade, that the true enormity of the situation begins to sink in again. Ed's worried face fills his vision, and his words feel like a knife to the heart even if they may seem innocuous enough.

He is no longer immune. He has to be kept warm, he will have to be carried, he will be-- This is a place where his body will be a burden just as much as it would have been in the fight with Father, maybe even more so.]

Brother...

[The smile is gone, and there's worry in the mirror of Ed's golden eyes.]

What are we going to do? I can't travel like this, and I'm just going to slow everyone down.

You're not going to slow anyone down. I'll carry you, if I have to, until you get stronger. You will get stronger, it's just going to take time.

[ he means it, too. he'd put Al on his back and take him anywhere and everywhere if he had to. this is the first time he's seen Al's real body in years, first time he's seen his brother again and his heart practically aches at the thought that it would happen here, in Norfinbury.

he finally reaches and drapes his coat around his brother, trying to tuck the fabric around him to keep him warm. ]

We're not leaving you behind, Al.

[He knows Ed would never leave him behind and, truthfully, that's almost part of what scares him. He doesn't want to be helpless and useless in this sort of environment. It's so harsh and unforgiving to weakness, he can't fight beside his brother here.

He is starkly reminded of the choice he had to make literally just before arriving here. He turned his back on his original body in order to fight, not that he has told Ed that, and now-- it's like that choice is mocked.]

I can't fight in a body like this!

[It bursts out of him all of a sudden, anguished and guilty.]

You don't have to fight, Al. I can help you, I can do this until you're strong enough to help me. You helped me when I couldn't walk, stand, fight, breathe, think. You've helped me through everything we've done, now it's my turn to help you, okay?

[ and he means that, because Al has always been there, from the days he struggled with new automail limbs, to days when he simply couldn't walk anymore he was so exhausted. he gently grips his shoulders, making him focus. ]

You're not always going to be like this, Al. It's going to take some time to get your strength back up, to get you healthy, but we will, and you'll be back in shape in no time. I won't let anything happen to either of us, okay?

[He knows that Ed would never leave him behind, and he knows that his body would eventually put on weight, but that isn't the issue here. This place is so dangerous and everyone needs to pull their weight or else the whole group could be in danger.

He can't be that burden on them, just like he couldn't be that burden during the fight with Father.]

Brother...

[He reaches out a skeletally thin hand to take Ed's, still feeling a thrill of skin on skin even if his mood remains sober.]

You know it won't be that easy here, food is scarce at the best of times and moving through the snow will get a lot more dangerous if you're slowed by me.

It won't be easy, but nothing we've ever done has been easy, Al. I'm not giving up, and you're not either. I won't let you.

[ there's determination there, but anger as well, because even the thought of leaving Al behind is out of the question, no matter his condition. ] We have a group here. We'll work together and we'll get you back to normal, okay? I'll carry you, and besides right now you're really light, won't slow me down at all.

[ that's not true, he can't begin to think about the way his limbs grow sore and start sticking, the extreme temperatures bad even for this special alloy. he gives Al's hand a tiny squeeze back, not too much. ]

We'll find a way, Al. We always do.

[He's not fooled.

He knows as well as Ed that the automail can only stand so much punishment, and even with a minimal of extra weight it might fail sooner or more painfully than before. But he forces a smile to his lips all the same, trying to appear confident.]

R-Right, we will.

[Maybe he can get Ed to go for something else?]

It might be easier for us both if I stayed here for a while, just for a few days until I can walk on my own? The rest will probably do me good.

[ whether Al wants it or not, Ed will carry him to the ends of this place, will never leave him behind. Automail arm or not, he will carry him until his entire body gives out. ]

We can stay here a few days, but we can't stay too long. We have to be careful, the monsters will find us here. They seem to migrate closer when we're in groups.

[ but for now it would be best that Al rests, of course, that he tries to heal and get healthy. he feels bad enough that the fall hurt his brother's shoulder. ] I'm sorry you're in pain, Al. I'm sorry.

[His immediate instinct is to comfort Ed and tell him that the pain is a good thing, it's something he had forgotten about and embraced, but he has to stick on topic or else he's already lost the argument.]

Not us, Brother, just me.

[He smiles, a small but genuine smile.]

I'll be okay here on my own, you should go on ahead and find some more supplies. You can always come back for me when you've found more food.

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Snowblind Body Shenanigans

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