the_hawks_eye (the_hawks_eye) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-01-01 17:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, edward elric, riza hawkeye |
Who: Riza and Edward
When: December pre-Christmas Day
Where: Riza's home
What: In the snow
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Riza had brought Edward a new warm jacket, gloves and boots and was waiting for him to get home. She had been trying to engage him more in things recently. She knew that if Al were here the two of them would be out in the snow having fights and building snowmen. And that was going to be her suggestion to him when be arrived.
Truth be told Riza wanted to enjoy it too and take some time to bond with her nephew. She also wanted to take some pictures to show Al when they saw him, Riza had managed to arrange to visit him over Christmas so was going to surprise Ed with a week holiday.
Ed had been out most of the day, but if he was honest he was having a hard time tearing his thoughts away from that symbol in his room. It covered the ceilings and the floors in it’s unknown chalkline. He’d dug through book after book trying to find a matching symbol, but nothing seemed to. It was either really advanced, or he’d made it up or..he really didn’t have a third possibility for what it could be.
School had gone by in a blur, if asked how his day was he probably would shrug it off. He really didn’t remember, nor did he care. He was distracted. His dreams as of late had also been less than pleasant. However, Edward was not the type who came running for help with every little thing that went bump in the night. He was far too prideful for that.
It was nearing dinner time when Ed finally made his dazed way home and nudged the door open. He hadn’t asked Riza for anything since he arrived, so he was still wearing his favored hooded jacket and few items he did manage to bring with him.
The chalk all over Edward’s room had been worrying but Riza hadn’t really had any idea about how it got there let alone what it meant. Science and maths weren’t her strong points sadly, but she’d taken photographs and been working on it as well as Edward to try and figure out what it could stand for or mean.
“Hey” Riza called out as she heard the door open, she didn’t miss much, “How was school today?” she asked from her place on the sofa in the living room.
Edward looked up from a book with a shrug. “Same as every day.” Only plot twist was, today Riza didn’t receive a phone call from any concerned teachers or a principal. He’d managed to stay under the radar, but only thanks to the book in his hands. Advanced Alchemy. He’d already breezed through basics.
He worried about the symbol in his room but it didn’t change. Nothing happened. Not like the dreams, and he supposed he should be grateful, but it was still confusing. He pushed some blond bangs from his face, golden eyes watched her curiously. “Any change?”
Riza shook her head, “No change. And I’ve found nothing either. I was thinking we should take a break for a while. Have some fun?” she suggested, “Maybe enjoy the snow a little. I got you some warm things” she gestured to the bags in a chair.
“Hn.” Edward glanced toward his room and then back at her. “You’re into this snow thing hm?” Edward really wasn’t big on Christmas to begin with this year considering everything that had happened during the year. And his younger brother was absent from it. All were things that made it harder to enjoy for the blond. He looked over at the bagged items and raised an eyebrow. “What’s all that?”
“Well it’s not often we get the chance right?” she asked him encouragingly, “There’s a jacket, gloves, boots, warm things” she told him, “I think I got the sizes all correct but let me know if not” she gestured for him to go check the bags and look at the new things she’d gotten him.
Edward had acted like an adult most of his life due to his circumstances, he really wasn’t sure what to expect. Hesitantly he nodded and picked up the various items, putting on the ones that didn’t require changing right away, and looking out the window. “Wonder if it’s snowing by Al.” He took care of his brother most of his life, so he grew up rather fast. “..I should show you something I’ve been working on anyway out there.” Maybe Riza would like it, his mother had in the dreams. “Dad apparently was an alchemist.”
“How about we call him later and you can find out?” she suggested, maybe Al telling Ed about their upcoming reunion would be nice. She wanted to put a smile on that young face, she knew all too well he’d needed to grow up too quickly. “Really? Well I’d love to see it Edward” she told him honestly and interestedly.
“Yeah..” Ed nodded a little bit hesitantly. He was having a hard time without Al, especially around the holidays. He’d really done his best just to ignore them all and go on with his life like they were just another day. It was about all he could do to keep from hating the entire thing itself and bringing everyone down. Edward shrugged. “At least my dream father was. Before he ditched us heh.” Why were dads such jerks? Another question for another day, Ed pulled on a pair of white gloves and headed for the door, stepping out into the fresh snow. He looked around at it and took up some black powder from his jacket that he’d obtained from the science lab earlier in the day. It was there he began to design a circle and placed a block of iron in the middle. Using the friction it seemed from the gloves, Ed pushed his hands to the snow covered ground, the dark powder itself began to glow with a blue hue, and in the center formed a perfectly shaped horse, albeit a little childish looking. But it was no longer a square chunk of metal.
Riza hoped the visit to spend Christmas with Al would do him some good, he wanted Ed to know he wasn’t alone. Riza would be there for him as long as he needed her, and probably beyond, but she knew it was his brother he truly needed and wanted with him. She looked at him sadly when he made the comment about fathers. There wasn’t much she could say since her own had been fairly absent himself. Following him she watched with interest as he designed the black circle on the ground, her mouth falling open at the glow and shape which emerged from it. “Oh my goodness, Edward. How incredible” she breathed.
Edward had a severe hatred for his father. God help him if he ever decided to be more involved in the blonds life, he’d find himself in a world of trouble. Edward hated him for splitting him and Al up, and for never being there like all the other fathers he kept hearing about in school. That hatred only grew when Ed listened to other people talk of theirs. He never said anything, but it was there.
Ed pulled his hands away to hold up the metal object that had been reformed into an animal. The details were in the eyes and fur. “Heh, it’s not much but..I just had this idea that I could maybe do something like this if I tried it out.”
Riza couldn’t say she was really a fan of Ed and Al’s father either but she had to be careful how she expressed herself since she was trying to gain custody of Al too. But she was determined to do so, she simply didn’t trust the man. He’d hardly ever been there for the boys when they were young.
“It’s wonderful” Riza told him smiling as she moved closer, “Honestly Edward, it’s very impressive. Well done”
Ed hated the distance that was forced between him and his brother. It was no secret he was resentful, but then there were little moments like these where he was almost happy. Alchemy did that, it gave him the proper distraction from his head and he was really getting an interest in it.
He held the small animal he’d created from the metal as though it were weightless, but it in fact was not. It was as heavy as a paper weight and Ed only seemed a little disappointed. “Al and I could both do it..But his always looked lopsided.”
Riza hoped that Ed would continue to find happy moments like these, she knew he missed Al but hoped he’d find some kind of contentment here. Until Al could join them. If this alchemy helped then she was more than happy for him to continue.
“You should show him that one” she suggested softly, bending down to look at it. It really was incredible. And part of her wondered why she wasn’t freaking out more about it.
She was met with a pair of confused golden eyes. “Al’s not here.” His father hadn’t given him a phone either, or Ed would at the least been able to talk to him that way. The creature Ed had created was fairly intricate in detail for beginners alchemy. There were even details in the eyes of the small animal.
“I haven’t even been able to talk to him since..” Since they were separated, but he didn’t want to finish the words. It still hurt.
Riza wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “We’re going to go see him for Christmas” she told him, “I’ve spoken to your father and we’re going to go stay in a hotel near them and have Al over. So you have to take pictures and show him what you can do” she said with a small smile.
“...Really? “ He looked up, not entirely sure he believed it. He’d endured a lot in his young life and much of it had made him a skeptic in many things. He wasn’t quite sure how to react to things emotionally. Edward was guarded. Why would his father care about Christmas? Was it a trap of some kind? He looked over at the creature in his hands and squeezed it slightly. “I want to..” But he was hesitant to be happy over many things until he actually saw them with his own eyes.
“Really. It took a lot of persuading but we get to see him. I promise you that. You have my word Edward and I am not one to break that” Riza told him, it broke her heart to see him struggling so much to believe what she had said. He had been through too much, much more than any child his age should have to go through.
It’d left him guarded about things, but the more he watched her and the less she wavered the more he seemed to buy into it. He was a skeptic but he was also still a kid. He wanted to believe adults weren’t all liars. It was just damn hard. Even though Riza hadn’t directly lied to him yet, he was still wary and couldn’t help it. “Well...okay.” He tried to smile some, he didn’t do that much either these days. Things were just hard for him coping with being apart from Al. The brief thought of What if he thinks it’s weird popped into his mind, but he shook his head in attempt to just enjoy the moment. A bit of snow began to fall, and he held out a bare hand to touch it. “It’s cold.”
Riza planned on making sure that no matter what she would never lie to Ed, even if it was hard for him to hear she would always tell him the truth. He’d been lied to too much in his life already. She nodded and returned his little smile, “Of course it is” she said, “When it feels warm that’s when you know your hands are too cold. That’s why gloves are handy” she added.
Ed would rather hear the truth as it were anyway. He didn’t have much of a belief system to go off of, so he chose science. The base foundation of science was truth. He didn’t need sweet little lies, he knew the world was cold. He’d learned that at a young age. He frowned and looked at his hands. “Gloves could also help alchemy..” He thought on it for a moment, if he were to draw the symbols on them maybe he wouldn’t need the ash to draw them in the snow. He looked up at the snow fall and shivered again, wrapping his coat around himself a bit more securely. “What am I supposed to do now?” He’d never really done anything with snow, even in the city. He was always too busy looking after Al.
“Really?” she asked curiously, she didn’t really know much about the whole thing at all. Though she had read more recently so knew more than she had previously. But it still wasn’t entirely clear to her. “You could build a snowman” Riza suggested, “Like you see on Christmas cards” she explained with a smile.
Ed gave a nod. “Just need to draw the right seal.” He shrugged. It would be handy, drawing every time seemed like a lot of effort. Though he did consider that for a moment. “Snowman huh.” Ed didn’t really know how to act his age, that much was obvious. He started wondering if it was possible to manipulate snow too. He poured down more black powder and tried again, only this time it created a snow wave. His alchemy wasn’t quite perfect yet, he stared at the towering object and gave it a kick with a boot. It only resulted in the tower falling down on top of him and being buried in the snow with a short yelp.
Riza watched him try to create a snowman through alchemy only to end up covered in snow and she couldn’t help laughing before moving to help him up. “Come on honey, how about I show you how to do it the fun ordinary way?” she smiled.
When he was helped it ended up being more like pulling out. He was literally buried. For someone so short it wasn’t a real big surprise either. He shrugged at that. “Guess I’ll follow your lead. Little less wet I’m assuming.” And he let her do just that, he followed her to wherever she decided this snowman thing was happening.