Freelancer New York (freelancer_york) wrote in knowhereic, @ 2017-09-29 23:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | fullmetal alchemist: canon: edward elric, fullmetal alchemist: canon: roy mustang, haloverse: canon: north, haloverse: canon: tex, haloverse: canon: york |
Who: The Freelancers, Roy Mustang & Edward Elric
What: Ed and Roy see the MJOLNIR armor for the first time.
When: Evening, right after this.
Where: The Observatory
Rating: PG-13
Status: Log - Complete
Ed had raised the Observatory up several feet using his Alchemy. It kept the tribbles out. It didn’t keep out the Spartans. It had been easy for the three of them to make the jump, to break open the glass doors and slip inside. They weren’t exactly quiet, roaming the halls of the Observatory, the sounds of metal boots on tile floors, six boots. Three pairs of feet. York lead the way as always-- in that golden armor, which though it was glossy, didn’t shine. There was no light to glint off of it. The power had gone out days ago, they were walking through the pitch dark in that Observatory, but the Spartans didn’t need light, their helmets had infared and they saw just fine in the dark. York was following the blips on his heads-up display, the two life-signs that told him where Ed and Roy were. So those three towering giants-- 6’9”, 7’0”, and 7’5” respectively-- would make their way towards those blips, guns at the ready. The tribbles had tried to take bites out of their legs, though there was no evidence of it. The suits could handle a lot more than some tribble bites, after all. But both Ed and Roy would know they were coming long before they got there, thanks to the nearly two thousand pounds of Freelancer and armor coming down the hall. *** Roy had been around Ed for too long. They both got on each other’s nerves and they were both currently running off minimal hours of sleep and exhaustive work. Ed, trying to save everyone including the tribbles, and Roy, opting for the path of controlled destruction, respectively. The pair of them had worked together insofar as it was required to do the job correctly, but in the downtime, that period where they were waiting for Knowhere to finish its evacuation, they had nothing to do but keep watch. Occasionally, Roy would snap his fingers and the living flame that came from his hands would scorch the earth outside his post where he was keeping a lookout, and tribbles would die by the thousands. Roy smelled like cinders and ash. His fire was the only light in their grid. But their otherwise quiet (if tension filled) night wouldn’t go without interruption. The sounds of invasion alerted the Colonel, the deep thud of weighted steps sounding the alarm in his mind. He whipped around, jumped down from his elevated post with ease (his coat flaring), then pushed off the ground and stepped forward to fall in beside Edward, dark eyes sharp and intent. “I’m going to turn the lights on,” he told Ed calmly, “feel free to hit whatever you see.” It was dark, after all. And they weren’t alone. *** Roy seemed to be making an effort not to snap at him, and Ed returned the gesture-but the result wasn’t exactly good. It was a tolerable silence between them, but tense. Tense wasn’t something Ed did well with for long. When Al hadn’t returned, Ed had lost his cool a bit, snapped at all the wrong people and felt stupid for it. Normal alchemy was tiring, but this was so much bigger than how he normally worked that he was triple checking and quadruple checking himself. He understood why Roy was there (or at least he thought he did), to check his work but it made the corner of Ed’s eye twitch a little at times. Specifically when the man went to catch the furballs on fire. Wasn’t that the opposite of what he was trying to accomplish?....and yet, necessary. He could do nothing but glare at him in response. “Finally.” He responded as he stood beside the man and nodded. Finally, a chance to hit something solid that didn’t make him feel sick after. He had so much pent up anger it was ridiculous. A chance to let some of it out in theory sounded fantastic. The only person he expected maybe to interrupt the night was York, but York didn’t make sounds like whatever that was. --- Nothing made sounds like that whatever it was. It was easy to tell there were six feet involved, and that it was huge. But the way they all fell into step with one another, it sounded like a creature instead of three different beings. Their steps were all perfectly timed. Not like an army-- they weren’t in sync, but rather the timing between each footstep was always exact, like a running horse.. Only it was walking and had six legs. And, you know, it was made out of metal. As soon as those ‘lights’ (read: fire) came on, the brilliant gold of that first suit of armor would be illuminated and the matte black and deep purple of the other two would fade more into the background. It was almost blinding, the way the brightness of the fire reflected back at the pair. Huge metal creatures, with guns. The golden one was just leaning that gun against a shoulder and taking on a surprisingly casual stance. The black one, barely able to be seen in the darkness, even with the fire, kept that weapon up and ready. But surely not a single one of them would have time to speak up. *** Fire came to life in that darkness. What it revealed was heart stopping. It was a display of terror in mechanical form. Cyborgs. Robotics. Whatever you wanted to call the humanoid metal, it wasn’t flesh. What the hell? Roy’s lips parted in surprise, he made a sound, but he was a trained soldier--a State Alchemist--and he didn’t shrink away in fear. So he grit his teeth against the pound of his heart and lashed out with his other hand, the more explosive attacks coming from his right while the pinpoint accuracy came from his left. It was to see what the hell these things could take, if they’d scatter. In the background, towering over the other two, the purple armored soldier paused and would get out a single, “Whoa!” of surprise communicated to the others before they were awash in that fire and whatever the hell came with it. *** The things were massive, whatever they were. Some sort of...armor? Ed didn’t recognize it. It wasn’t familiar, and Roy was on the ready. Neither of these things equaled good. Both of the men staring down the armor were State Alchemists, neither were prepared to run. A clap of blue light and a large ornate staff rose from the ground beneath Ed’s hand. Well, probably it was still short considering it was sized to his height, but for forming something out of seemingly nothing to stand on guard with-it blocked his entire body. It did the job quite well if these things decided to attack. Woah!Ed heard it and it sounded familiar. That alone made him pause in his attack, but he still wasn’t willing to shrink away. He stood guarded. Those things could speak?! “What the hell are they?!” Roy’s fire illuminated his face as he rushed forward to strike at one with that sleek combination of steel and granite staff. Roy wasn’t stopping, he shouldn’t either. --- The fire lit the area, obscured the armor, the explosions damaged the hall they were standing in, caught the pictures on fire, and slowly died down.. The fire on the walls, eating up the pictures, continued to burn and provided light for view the carnage-- except there was none. The three stood there untouched. The golden suit turned its head to look at the purple one, then to the black one-- who took a step forward. And perhaps more might have come of it-- but then the smallest of them was launching forward with that staff he’d created from nothing and the golden one stepped forward to meet him, hand sweeping out to catch the staff. It had to have been like hitting a brick wall, the momentum just stopped as it impacted with that hand. The armor held onto it, refusing to release. “Quite a welcome for the cavalry, isn’t it?” The voice came out sounding mechanical through the speakers, but it was still dead to rights: York. *** Ed closed the distance (idiot), and was met with force that jolted him into a dead stop. The armored asshole was also an idiot, because Roy (now) knew Ed could mirror the effects of the madman Scar’s alchemy. If Ed considered it, maybe he could break down the metal the way Scar had done to his own automail the times he’d encountered the asshole. Either way, it didn’t stop the Flame Alchemist from being surprised the three giants had brushed off his fire without so much as flinching. The golden soldier had moved at speed to meet the blonde boy, while the two in back hadn’t done much more than look at each other. Roy didn’t pause anymore than Ed did, however, and he would have unleashed another, more localized flame if the thing hadn’t spoken. York. What the hell? Roy’s expression darkened. His concern for Ed spurred him. Roy did more than create flame, he changed the oxygen density in the air. The mechanical beasts may have been immune to his fire, but the humans inside still needed air to breathe. Call it a hunch, Roy wasn’t convinced it was York anyway, or if the ploy would work against metal suits of armor, but he lowered the density in the space around the three. Dangerous, because Ed was so close, but Roy was a master of his craft. *** None of them even seemed slightly slowed down with Roy’s flame. What the hell were they made of? Ed could only see that closer. So he got closer, but at the price of a stinging sensation through his entire body as that staff made contact with the suit that gripped it. There was a hint of fear in his eyes as he reached out with his automail hand toward that suit in attempt to try the very technique Roy was so sure he could mimic. He could, but that voice stopped him again. His automail hand stopped centimeters before it touched the suit. He didn’t recognize that metal, he didn’t know how to break it apart. It wasn’t like anything he’d seen, and he really didn’t want to risk getting his automail broken now-so he had one option in his eyes. Ed could feel the subtle shift in oxygen near the suits and looked back at Roy then up at the one who spoke a little closer. The other two weren’t attacking him. He couldn’t judge these things by shape because they were so massive, but if it was York who the hell were the other two? “York…?” --- “Yeah-- and whatever you’re doing Colonel, you can relax.” The staff was released and the black suit of armor leveled that gun on the dark man. Whatever he was doing, Texas didn’t like it. She didn’t fire, though. “Let’s all chill out.” York lifted one hand as if in surrender, the other continued to hold his gun. He certainly hadn’t wanted to lift the gun and make things worse. The shift of his body was telling, however. He was prepared for another hit. He was ready to be slammed by something. He didn’t trust either Alchemist to go easily, or to believe him. Not after Roy’s trick with the oxygen. But it must have seemed, to the pair of much shorter men, that the suits of armor were invincible. Fire. Lack of oxygen. Even the quick reactions of Ed. None of it. It was all for nothing against those suits. *** When the hell had Ed become so trusting? Roy would lecture the moron later for giving up his guard that easily. There were shapeshifters on Knowhere and Ed was willing to believe the first thing to speak with York’s voice could be him? Maybe it was just a sign of his attachment to the soldier. Roy didn’t know. But he sure as hell didn’t fall for it himself. The golden suit was speaking again, addressing him, but Colonel Mustang didn’t relax. The oxygen density slowly resumed (Theta reporting the fact to North, who instructed him to continue running the internal systems for just a minute longer, he’d quit on North’s cue). “York,” North said, relegating his communications to the golden boy and Texas only. “We’re just scaring them.” He slowly raised his own hands in surrender like York had done--both of them, because he hadn’t been holding either of the sniper rifles slung over his massive shoulders--”So I’m going to do something really stupid. You’re going to keep being the shield you are and Texas… please don’t shoot either one of them.” Theta prepared the domed shield for use, just in case. Then North’s hands found his helmet, the locks disengaged and he slowly, and very deliberately, pulled the helmet off his head. Roy’s stance had changed just slightly, moving into that position with the look in his eyes that said he was focusing on nothing so he could see everything. When the armor in the background removed its helmet, Roy’s attention snapped toward it and he raised his hand. Snap. *** It was true, if anything had used York’s voice it was very likely Ed would have believed it was him. He wasn’t nearly as cynical as Roy was. Maybe halfway but he still wanted to trust. He wasn’t as trusting as his brother was, but get him attached to a person and he had a hard time not wholeheartedly trusting them. Ed didn’t trust very many people, in fact he could count the numbers of them on one hand, so when he did it ran deep. Even when maybe he should have been more on edge. The blonde boy could feel the lack of oxygen to the point where it was nearly stifling standing so close to those suits. It hurt his throat, but he didn’t complain. Roy was trying to protect him, and he could see that now. “Stop!” Ed tried, but it seemed like the colonel had gone to another place entirely. A terrifying one where the only light that he could see was that of his own flame. The metal ground raised as those fingers snapped together in front of the three massive suits to block them from the flame in a flicker of blue light. “They aren’t attacking me! Just stop!” He said from behind the wave of whatever the hell the flooring was made out of. -- “Don’t, North--” York turned his head to look towards the purple suit as those locks unclicked. “You idiot.” Came Tex’s snap at the same time. The silent conversation could be seen in the movement of the armor and their bodies beneath. But it was too late. The helmet was coming off. Roy’s hand was coming up. The golden boy immediately moved to place himself between the Colonel and his companion-- a very telling action. His arms flew up into an X across his own helmet, trying to maximize the space he was covering between them. To be as large of a shield as he could. But then there was suddenly a wall of tile between the Freelancers and the two Alchemists on the other side, where the fire would impact. It gave York that bare three seconds he needed, where he spun and snapped out a hand, grabbing hold of the front of North’s armor and jerking him in hard enough that their chests collided. “You moron.” He snapped the words out, but didn’t yell. “Put your helmet on.” Oh, you’d have words later. “Your girlfriend’s mad, North.” Came the taunt from Tex. But she sounded amused. The golden soldier turned his back on his friend a second later, to face that wall again, prepared for it to come down. Part of him wanted to throttle the Colonel for that-- and kiss Ed. *** Two things happened at once. The tile flooring blocked the Colonel’s fire from impacting the vulnerable soldier on the other side, but that meant it washed back toward he and Ed, forcing Roy into motion a heartbeat later. Master of his craft. Fortunately he was skilled elsewise Ed would have been consumed in the rebounding heat. But Roy swiped a hand across the space in front of himself and jerked the fire out of existence. “You moron!” He snapped at the same time York did on the other side of the tile wall. He leapt forward and grabbed Ed. The mirrored effect was happening on the other side. North raised his hands in surrender at York, allowing the shorter Spartan to drag him forward with force. “We gotta talk to them like humans, York, not machines. Doubt they’ve ever seen this kind of thing before. That’s all.” Then York was letting him go, he cast a glance at Texas for her taunt. He raised his helmet back up but didn’t secure it yet. “Colonel Mustang,” he called, sounding human without the mechanical interference from the speakers in his helmet. “We’re friendlies, sir,” then he secured his helmet again before York had a heart attack. Reaching out, he pat York’s shoulder lightly. It was okay. Nothing terrible happened. On the other side of the tile barrier, Roy was glaring daggers at Ed, but he paused at the voice on the other side. He hadn’t met North properly. But the golden soldier had thrown himself in the way.. What the hell was going on? “What the fuck?” he said out loud finally. Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist. *** Ed really hadn’t thought that through, the fire coming right back at him. All he could do was stand there staring. He saw many things in that fire until something grabbed at him almost hard enough to knock the wind out of his lungs add all the unwanted memories faded into oblivion as he was pulled back with Roy and held up his automail to block any of the bits of fire that made it that far at them. The blonde was in a weird state of shock even as Roy glared at him, he didn’t seem to realize it. He’d had Roy’s flames directed at him before, but at that time he hadn’t been under this much stress. At that time he hadn’t had everyone’s lives depending on him. Taking in a breath finally at the sound of Roy’s voice, Ed dared to lower the barrier and move in spite of the fact he was pretty sure the Colonel was picturing a thousand ways to barbecue him and get away with it. “It’s York and North...and..Tex?” he wasn’t as sure as he looked toward the other suited thing. -- Behind the wall, the golden boy kept his back turned on his friend, shrugging that hand off his shoulder. He had words for North. They’d wait until this was over. That wall, though, soon came down and Texas trained her gun on Roy again. York, though, still positioned directly in front of North, would lift his hand again. “Yeah, it’s York and North and Tex-- look, hey. We could be shapeshifters, right? We could be.. Clones,” well, one of them was. She ticked her head in his direction but said nothing. “We could be tribbles wearing armor, but we aren’t. It’s me.” “York is correct.” Came the voice of Delta as he flickered into existence over that golden shoulder. “I have met with a shapeshifter and they would be unable to duplicate a holographic image such as myself or Theta.” His head bobbed a little as he spoke. “See? Friendlies. So, let’s try this again, only this time I’m going to take off my helmet and everyone else is just gonna be cool. I mean, a shapeshifter wouldn’t know what I know about you and the Lieutenant, right, Colonel? About that little scare we had?” His hands came up to flip the locks on his helmet. “She isn’t, by the way, D and I just wanted you to make a move. We still think you should-- and Ed, we talked about going to a library after all this. It’s me. I’m already missing an eye so let’s not burn my face off, okay? I’m already having enough trouble with the ladies.” Yeah right, like he’d ever tried in the first place. The helmet lifted off slowly and York’s face was revealed, his eyebrows going up a little. “It’s me.” He repeated. “We’re all friends here.” *** Ed was too trusting. But he hadn’t been through the same things Roy had. He hadn’t faced down an enemy’s gun and watched them burn for the sheer fact he didn’t want to die. The wall came down and Edward-stupid-fucking-Elric stepped forward without any concerns in the world at all. How did he do that? Roy had no idea. His paranoia ran too deep, his suspicion was too strong. He didn’t trust anyone except Hawkeye with that brazen confidence Ed displayed in that moment. Moron. The wall came down though, and Roy’s eyes moved across the muted golden soldier, the vague shape of the purple behind him whose hand was falling away from the golden one, and then to the dark space where the black one faded into the background. He stared into that darkness, two worn and weary soldiers who knew their mark when they saw it. Roy could feel the density in the air, of course he knew where she was standing. The machine was talking again, Roy’s eyes didn’t move from the shadows. If the black fired her weapon Roy would have just that brief second to turn the ignition spark back on the weapon itself. He’d probably get shot in the process. But he was okay with that. His eyes didn’t move. Not even when the golden machine mentioned Hawkeye. She could be used against him, it was true, but she wasn’t here. She was safe someplace else. That scare though… she wasn’t. He knew. In the end, it was Delta that made the difference. Goodman Grey would beg to differ in his abilities to take his shape’s memories. But Delta was right in that not even he could fake a holographic image, let alone reproduce the metal grafted on the soldier’s bones. But none of that mattered. The soldier kept up his litany of words, then slowly Roy’s attention turned to him. York’s helmet came off. York. Ah. Shit. A warning would have been nice. *** He and Roy had lived very different lives. In spite of all the pain he felt deep from the past, he still wanted to believe in people. To think that they were mostly good, even if he didn’t say so in words. He still wanted to trust them and be able to behave normally around them even though he was scared of what the outcome could be. When most people discovered the things that he and his brother had done to revive their mother, they were treated with distrust and called a number of thing, but Ed still thought alchemists were for the people. Even though he didn’t want to get too close to them until York came along. York was almost enough to make him believe in people again. He would still be cautious and wary, but he didn’t want them burnt to a crisp. Ed wasn’t looking forward to the aftermath of this. There was very likely to be a lecture from Roy, which would end in both of them yelling, which was far too exhausting to even think about just then. Fighting the Colonel only ever ended in headaches. He had enough of those. “I told you.” He glared at Roy. --- Ed’s eyes were accusing. Roy didn't flinch. He'd done what he thought was necessary in defense of himself and his subordinate. Ed was the only one of them who didn't understand that Roy would do everything in his power to protect those he loved. Even die for them. So he just looked at him then back to York. “Next time give us a warning,” he snapped. Colonel Mustang back in charge. Only two people in that room didn't respect his authority. Roy's eyes moved over Ed then into the dark place where Texas lingered before he seemed to relax back into his calm, cool self. Oh, the faces of Roy Mustang. Behind York, North relaxed too and he looked at Texas. “Come on, Tex, lower the gun.” His communication strictly to her. Looking at the back of York's head, North reached out a gloved hand and ruffled that light blonde hair the same way he did to South all their lives. A way to say good job, bud. For diffusing the situation. Humans, see? *** “Hey,” York said, lifting a hand to point at Ed in a playfully accusing manner. “I told him I was coming.” He hadn’t thought they’d be attacked. He hadn’t considered mentioning they’d be dressed like walking tanks. Everyone where he came from was used to it. “I can’t help it if he can’t remember.” But then that hand came out and ruffled up his hair. York turned enough to look back at North and smirked at him. “Don’t think I’m not still angry at you for doing something as stupid as taking your helmet off, North.” Even though York had done it a minute after that. Texas lowered her gun a moment later and relaxed her stance, finally. The gun met with her shoulder and she stepped forward, her voice coming through the speakers sounding like the machine she was. “It’s late. Where are we bunking down for the night?” She wanted to check it out, set up some sort of perimeter, get a lay of the area. She brushed past the Colonel and took a brief look down at Ed, staring at him for a moment before she moved past him and into the darkness beyond them, disappearing easily. It was clear they could see just fine. “Don’t worry about her,” York assured them, “She’s fine.” He extended his helmet out towards Ed, so he could hold it, carry it if he wanted, check out the metal. It was a solid thirty pounds, just the helmet. “You two look like you’re doing alright.” He was glad to see them both. *** “We're all still alive for you to be angry at, York,” North replied, which was to say it was fine if the golden boy was upset at him still. It was more than acceptable. The purple soldier smiled behind his visor then followed after Texas. “Sir,” he raised a hand in salute at Mustang. Roy inclined his head a bit. North continued on after the other Freelancer. She'd seen York's panic as well as North had. He wanted to talk to her about it. Well, talking and Texas didn't always pan out so well but North had always made the effort to try with her. She was a messed up person, but she was still a person. Roy watched the behemoth machines pass by, the thud of their weight hitting the floor and sending up little waves through the soles of his boots. Jesus. “We're fine,” Roy replied. “You ever try to use Hawkeye against me I'll take your other eye out, York.” He'd waited for the other two to depart to say that. Smart man. The way he'd said it was dead serious. *** The golden boy watched as the other two Spartans moved past, then he took a brief glance at Ed with that helmet before stepping in closer to Roy and leaning down a little. “I would never try to use her against you, sir. I was only trying to prove to you that I was me.” With some information another wouldn’t know. York, of course, had no idea that a shape shifter could take someone’s memories. “We’re friends, sir.” His hand came up to rest on Roy’s shoulder. It was heavy. “I’m loyal to my friends.” As if Mustang didn’t already know that. His hand fell away. “What’s on the docket for tomorrow?” Since they were clearly all staying here tonight. Texas found herself a nice dark spot, but the two could still see one another easily, through the infrared. The woman took up a spot against a wall and set her gun between her legs. The two would spend a few well-deserved minutes alone. *** Roy regarded York with serious eyes, staring up into the dark face towering above him. There was no light to see by, the flames Roy had produced had long since died. York was visible by virtue of Delta's glow. He nodded sharply, once. He accepted the man's response. Roy pulled his coat closer, “Ask Ed, it was his idea to be here tonight.” for whatever reason. It seemed nonsensical to Roy, but Ed was leading this show. Eyeing the golden armored cyborg, Roy grabbed hold of the armor and …. Did something unexpected. He climbed up and used York as a prop to jump back to his post he'd occupied earlier and turned back to look outside, watching the tribbles below as their numbers slowly increased. He was on a short fuse. Ed irritated him by virtue of the two being around each other too long. Off in the dark, the sniper pulled his gun from over his shoulder and set to watching beside Texas, slowly scanning their surroundings. *** There was no way Ed would let Roy die for him if he was capable of stopping whatever it was. Even this. He knew Roy had killed before, but he didn’t want the man to have more blood on his hands in space. Even if they were just Tribbles, possibly mindless tribbles. Ed didn’t even like the critters, god damnit. He acted like he didn’t care for Roy most of the time either, but that was also a lie. He cared too much and didn’t know how to put it in words. It might have been so much easier just to let them exterminate the things, but Al had gotten upset. This whole thing had started out for his brother and his ridiculous love of animals. Ed didn’t want to see him sad or scared of Roy either, this wasn’t his Roy, Ed was trying to protect them both. Trying to protect everyone and just barely keeping his head above water. “Yeah, you said you. Not giant tank monster suits.” Ed stepped up cautiously to York’s to bang a hand on it to see what kind of sound it made. His expression flattened. “I can’t tell what that’s made of.” He said with a slight shake of his head and pulled his hand back. Staring right back at Tex, Ed raised an eyebrow as if to say what? but didn’t actually say words. The blonde didn’t know how to act around Tex anymore. Sometimes she was funny, but most of the time she was just upsetting. He watched Roy jump up on York and back to his post. Ed might have found it funny if he couldn’t feel the impending lecture deep in his bones. It took him a moment, but finally he found words as York addressed him. “I...tomorrow I have two more places I need to go re-enforce. “ He commented, quietly but unwavering in his plan. Ed had been bitten by a few of them during his attempts to fortify the places the arrays were going to make sure the space head could handle what he was doing, but it wasn’t anything life threatening. Just irritating little red marks on his fleshy arm and a few holes in his pant legs. He was gonna need a new wardrobe after this. They’d eaten everything else, but none of that had kicked in yet for the kid. He was still trying to move forward with this plan. Like Roy said, fake it until it was done. He was hungry, but there was nothing to eat so there was no point in complaining. Things would get done, this would work. --- With the Colonel using him as a launchpad (York didn’t even shift with the added weight of Roy, nor with the way he jumped off of him-- it was like a golden brick wall), the Freelancer tilted his head back to look after him, then smirked and directed that one good eye back to Ed in the near darkness. Delta remained, illuminating them both in green. “It’s layered metal, four different kinds, in different amounts, each around a quarter inch thick.” Inch thick plating all the way around-- it was like being in a mobile tank. He’d let Ed poke and prod as much as he liked, before nodding at the plan-- tomorrow, they would go reinforce some of those spots meant for arrays. The Freelancers could flank him, keep him safe and clear. Stepping forward, he’d reach back behind himself and into a small compartment at his hip. There was a hiss as it opened and York pulled something out, then those metal-encased fingers were extending it out. A single, stupid powerbar. It was smashed up, the metallic wrapping was a little torn, but there it was. “It probably won’t taste very good, but you’ll eat it anyway.” An order from the soldier. “Take it.” Another order, when Ed didn’t immediately reach for the offered food. “It’s the only thing I could find.” The Freelancers were going on day three without food, but they were sadly rather used to it. They ate when they could, not when they wanted to. --- “Hmm...What kinds?” Ed asked again in Delta’s light as his strange golden eyes explored the colored surface. “Nothing I recognize.” It must not have been from the past. Ed knew about most metals and metal components, but he’d never seen anything quite this shiny. Ed mainly didn’t reach for it because he didn’t realize that little thing in the golden package was food. It was all mushed up. “How do you even eat this?” It wasn’t that he wouldn’t try, but what the actual hell was it? He reached out to look it over. Processed foods weren’t a thing he was used to. The blonde didn’t like the idea that York was basically giving up all the food to him when he found it. So what if he was running this plan? The others still needed food or they’d get weak and probably feel sick too. Yet York didn’t even seem terribly phased by it all. The Tribbles had lost any amount of cuteness they might have had ages ago at this point. Al had better not do this next time. Ed wasn’t sure how much ‘leadership’ he could take. He’d never lead anything on this large of a scale. Even though he was hungry, nerves might make it hard to eat. “Have you eaten anything?” ---- “You know, I never bothered asking.” He’d been told, in class, when they’d given out the suits.. But it wasn’t anything Ed needed to know about right now. He needed his mind on the task, not on the sort of metal his friend’s armor was made out of, fun as that might be. “You open it-- here.” Reaching out to take it back, York tore open the shiny foil and offered it back out. “It’s an energy bar, it has more protein in it than a steak ten times that size. It’ll help keep you going.” Taking up his helmet, he tucked it under his arm, determined to leave it off so Ed could see his face and know it was him. He was sure the younger blonde needed that connection. Had he eaten anything? “Yeah, the three of us had something to eat on the way over.” They would have, anyway, if they had paused to do so, but they hadn’t. Perhaps they would now, in the safety of the Observatory. A few Tribbles would be easy to grab and would make them a decent meal. “How have you been feeling?” Mother York. What? He had a soft spot for Ed. Had the young Alchemist ever imagined such a relationship could be formed with the hulking man who’d kept him from escaping the clinic that first time, all those months ago? --- Thanks to exhaustion, Ed couldn’t really keep on task if he wanted to. “Why wouldn’t you ask?” Ed was the one interested in metals though. “I know exactly what I’m made out of.” He responded. He’d watched Pinako make his automail, and then Winry a second time. He could list off everything they’d put in it. “I wanna test it.” He had a few alchemy tricks he could run on it that wouldn’t just break down the suit and potentially hurt his friend, and he was curious. The way Roy climbed up on it and York didn’t even blink, made him think it was stronger than Steel. Easily. The good news was, he still had energy. The bad, it was fleeting with the lack of real substance. The suit was intimidating, but Ed didn’t flinch as much with the helmet off as he had with it on. Even Tex had intimidated him in that thing of hers, but he didn’t say anything about it. State Alchemists didn’t shy away. Taking the bar back, he bit into it with little hesitation. Which was decidedly a mistake. It tasted like tar from the street! Ed looked up at York as if to ask him what the hell he was playing at, how could that be food? But instead he just continued to eat it trying to mask how he really felt. He had a feeling York was lying to him about his eating, so for once in his life he decided to follow the ‘order’ from his friend but gave him a clear look that said don’t expect this all the time. “I don’t know.” He responded with a frown. He really wasn’t sure how he felt just then. Or anymore. It was all kind of a blur. He hadn’t had time to feel. --- York chuckled at the expression on Ed’s face, reaching out to catch him at the back of the head and pull him in closer, nearly close enough to press against the metal of his armor. If he hadn’t been in armor, he surely would have smashed the smaller Alchemist in against him and held on. But as it was, he knew the armor wasn’t comfortable to lean against. He knew it probably didn’t taste all that good, but he gave the younger blonde a smile when Ed shot him that look and just nodded. Keep eating. “That's alright, Ed, you don't need to know.” The young man didn't have to know how he was feeling all the time. York understood. He'd had that happen to him before. “Finish that bar up. I'm gonna get out of this armor and we're gonna bed down for a few hours.” Yes, he would take off that armor so Ed could use him as a pillow, of course he would. He'd do just about anything for Ed Elric. “And don't argue with me. I already won this argument fair and square. You need to rest.” He wouldn't take ‘no’ for an answer. --- It was actually awful. That couldn’t be what food from the future was like!? Ed ate as much as he could of it and handed over the rest to the man in the giant suit as he was squished up against metal and gave him a confused look. “It’s actually making me feel sick.” He responded about it before not very seriously tapping the suit with a foot. To go from not eating, to eating something that high in calories was a strange feeling on his stomach. Roy’s idea to use York as a launch pad, gave Ed another one. A second surprising act from the alchemist who was wary of technology a good 90% of the time. He climbed up to sit on the giant sized shoulder of the otherworldly looking armor. “Fine.” He responded with a roll of his eyes, he’d attempt sleep but made no promises. -- “Okay, I won't force anymore on you.” Bar taken, he carefully wrapped it back up and stashed it away again, for later. York had been getting Ed and Al food, until Al had gone to Harry’s and become his responsibility. Sure, York fed Harry when there was food, but there wasn't, and the boys weren't eating tribbles. York had somehow managed to find other food, but this bar was one of the last things left on the head. Though as Ed started climbing him, the soldier blinked, then laughed again and shook his head. “Make yourself comfortable.” He teased, glancing up above at Roy before he regarded the boy Alchemist again. “Sleep soon, I'm serious. You'll be safe with me. You can rest.” Ed knew that, didn't he? That he was safe curled up against this giant of a man. York could protect him against anything --- not that Ed needed protection, but it was nice to have while he slept, at least. |