The Bear and Barnacle

Ed sits at a table in the pub, peering out the nearest window every so often, then turning back to his writing. It takes him a while to finish the letter as he keeps having to stop and rethink what he's putting down so he doesn't end up sounding completely crazy.

Tane-san,

Hi there. I know I don't write very often, but the last time I talked to Riu-nii-san he said I should. I don't know why he did, but it seemed like a good idea because there's some really weird stuff going on here right now. Margate's pretty weird anyway - I mean you already know that - but it's really really REALLY weird right now and not the kind of freaky stuff I'm used to.

There's all these crazy weirdos around, like I saw this big green guy the other day? He was huge and at first I thought he might have automail because it looked like there were these big bolts in his neck? But he was really stupid and he couldn't really talk and then he kind of tried to smash me. I transmuted a wall and got away, but there were these other things too. I think they're still outside. They're all gross and rotty and they smell REAL bad. I got away from them too. One of them ripped my coat because it was trying to bite me. It was my right arm, though, so it was OK, but how weird is that? Biting me? They kind of reminded me of the dolls at the Anyway, I fixed my coat and I'm OK and everything, but what I wanted to know was, do you have weird guys like that in London too? I mean, like biting people? Just wondering.

Anyway, I should probably go. There's a guy outside all in bandages now and I should see if he needs any help. Maybe the biting things tried to eat him too or something. OK. So say hi to Riu-nii-san and stuff.

Bye

ED.


He looks out the window again as he seals up the letter, then tucks it in his coat pocket, intending to send it off by owl as soon as he can scare one up. Sighing, Ed pulls on his gloves and makes sure his braid is tight before heading for the door.

Brought to you, under duress, a fine selection of Ed's smoothest verbage with the ladies (mostly):

( Oh, dear God, please shut up...PLEASE... )

Missed it around here! Please excuse my absence. Crazy work + multiple extended illnesses = 1 very useless lady.

 
She's beautiful and he just... Can't. Get her. Out. Of. His. Head.
Oh, hell, not again.

Shit. Shit. Shit.
You're a pervert. Pervert, Ed. Per. Vert.
No. It's fine. It's really fine. It's just-
Shut up. Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutup.

Oh, fuck.


The wall is cool against his cheek, damp with condensation from the shower.
The breath is still hitching in his chest and he really wants to just slam his forehead into the wall over and over and over. It wouldn't help. He knows that. Even if he knocked himself out, it still wouldn't help, so instead he wipes a hand over his face and - shakily - finishes dressing.

The second he makes unexpected eye contact with Zelgadis in the hallway, he goes scarlet and bolts into his room, muttering incoherently about having forgotten shoes. It's anyone's guess as to what Ed is on about as he is very clearly already wearing his boots.
 

The below is an IM continuation (of sorts) from Ed's arrival post, wherein Ed is kindly offered a place to sleep by Jack and (in a slightly less enthusiastic manner) Zelgadis. Players involved in the IM convo will, in all hopes, be able to continue the thread this way without so much reliance on coordinated schedules. :D Even so, others can feel free to comment and/or threadcrash about Ed's living situation, or whatever strikes their fancy!


Jack: *pushes open the Pub door and pulls his jacket around him* It's not a long walk ( -- just a few blocks. )

 
Used to walking everywhere no matter how long it takes, drawn into solitude by the grating of not-belonging in his gut, he arrives. He's seen it in the shiny, colored leaflets scattered about town, been there in the day more than once, and though he's more a creature of farmland, or even desert, he craves the relief of cool-aired silence and a place to just exist for a few moments.

( He slips through the closed, darkened shop. )

The first thing he feels - ( ouch )