Edward Elric is the Fullmetal Alchemist (fullmetal_chibi) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-08-21 19:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, edward elric, neal cassidy (baelfire) |
Who:Ed, Neal and Henry
What:Ed meets Neal's kid
When:Before the shattered plot
Where:The ranch
Warnings:None except adorableness.
Ed wasn’t sure what to make of Henry yet, he was cautious Sure he had a brother, so it wasn’t like he was entirely unused to younger kids but he wasn’t used to parental type figures. He sorta viewed Neal that way and really didn’t want to lose him. He sincerely doubted Neal would leave him out in the dust for something new but this was his kid. Who knew. Parental type figures who actually mattered to him were a new experience. His own father was a deadbeat. He could get run over by a bus for all Ed cared. Or so he thought anyway, but Neal had shown him something he hadn’t had in ages. A real male influence.
Ed was dropped off in the morning as he said he would be and looked around the place. Neal usually didn’t use the office, but he would head in that general direction anyway. He offered a wave at a few familiar faces who seemed surprised to see him not entirely covered up. He had his coat on yes, but his hands were free of glove. He wasn’t feeling that confident today to leave it home.
“Seen Neal?” He asked one of the kids who pointed him in the right direction.
Getting Henry up at Ass O’Clock had been difficult for the first couple of days, because he just wasn’t used to being roused so early, especially on what was supposed to be summer vacation. But kids were resilient and a routine had been fallen into - up with the sun, breakfast on the go, then easing in to help with seasonal chores or paperwork, or even observing some of the classes going on. School would be starting for the youngin’ quicker than any of them thought (which reminded Neal to get Henry registered, and all that rigamarole that came with middle school entrance) and so he wouldn’t have to spend most of the day at the ranch (from dawn ‘til dusk, sometimes seven days a week, uphill in the snow both ways!) with his dad. When he was a little older Neal would be good with leaving him alone at the house but for now? In Orange County, as he was settling in? Nope.
They were on their way to do some haying, to check the equipment and oil it up for a productive run, and that’s when he saw Ed on his way toward them. Neal whistled to get the other kid’s attention.
“Hey, look who it is. Come on over here, I’ll introduce you.”
Ed could relate to that. On his best day he was the opposite of a morning person. This was only different really because he’d failed to sleep in the first place. There was no waking up involved, and besides that it was Neal. There were a few people he would wake up early for, Neal was on the short list. He’d missed him. It’d been hell trying to get things back in order lately, but all things considered Ed was in a decent emotional spot now.He wasn’t nearly as drained as he’d’ been before either.He wasn’t sure if it was because he was getting used to losing people or that shrink lady had helped some.
Either way he waved an automail hand and wandered toward them. “Hey, er..welcome back.” He wasn’t sure how to react with his kid there, so he wandered up with a bit of caution and gav him a lopsided grin. It really was nice seeing some things didn’t change. Neal and the ranch were comforting to him now. They just fit together.. A pair of curious golden eyes shifted toward the smaller person, and then back up at Neal as if trying to see just how alike they were.
“Thanks,” Neal smiled crookedly, the grin just about lighting up his expression, and he put a hand on top of the mini-me’s head. Anyone could tell that he and the kid were related - they had very similar features, and the same warm, dark eyes. “This is Henry. Henry, meet Ed. I told you about him, remember?” Yep, he’d given Henry the rundown of most of his OC pals - most notably, Henry was interested in meeting the real Wolverine and he also had fawned over Garrus’s status as a space explorer. But limbs that could be turned into shears and stuff like Edward Scissorhands were pretty cool too.
The grin was mirrored on Henry’s face. “Oh, yeah! You have the metal arm. Can I see?” Of course he wanted to see, curious cat he was.
Ed raised a blonde eyebrow. It shouldn’t have been so weird to see the look alike, but he really could barely even remember his own dad at this point. He wondered if he looked like him at all for a moment, but then Henry was talking. It brought Ed back down to earth where he gave him a sheepish grin. The fact that he was so interested he couldn’t help but find it a little endearing, but he wondered how much Neal had told him. He knew with Al there were certain things he hadn’t wanted him to know-he was just going to apply the same rule here with Henry.
He tried to ignore the bundle of nerves, but found it damn near impossible. Sure he was getting used to wearing it around town now, but in front of new people could still be slightly intimidating. After a moment of hesitation though he tugged away his coat, it was still hot after all. “My little brother said it looks like Megaman.” It was way more detailed than Megaman though. “My left leg is the same.” He really didn’t need to bend down very much for Henry to get a better look, he was already pretty short.
“Wow,” Henry leaned over to take in the sight of an actual metal arm, and nearly fell all over himself until Neal gently tugged him back. The kid’s eyes were about to bug right out of his skull, but he was obviously impressed. “That’s so awesome. And you can do all sorts of things with it?”
Neal shifted the toolbox to his other hand, watching with no shortage of amusement. It was a blessing how Henry just accepted everything so easily in the OC, but also a curse in the sense that there were just some things he didn’t want his son involved in. Valarnet being one of them, and figuring out how to explain ‘the dreams’ (mostly so he could fully understand who Regina was - they owed that to her) would be no picnic.
Ed nodded, and with very little effort anymore the hand let off a vibrant blue light. In it’s wake was an intimidating looking scythe. It was sharp enough to cut through just about anything from stone to a water bottle like a katana. He really had come a long way in skill. His control was practically effortless these days. “Uh huh. It can do a lot. It’s not just an arm anymore.” With alchemy behind it, it could virtually be anything and Ed no longer had to draw transmutation circles to do so. He could activate alchemy seemingly out of thin air now thanks to Lina’s training. It was a thing most alchemists in his world could not do. They were limited by what circles they had time to draw and summon energy from.
Henry knew all about the magic of this place, but he had never seen anything like that before. The scythe was clearly a good choice because the more intimidating, the ‘cooler’ it was to a youngin’. “I bet you can cut through anything with that,” he said, and he had so many questions. “How’d you get it? What kind of metal is it? Does it hurt?”
“Comes in handy when we’re pulling weeds on the ranch grounds,” Neal quipped. Because really. When he’d gone with Ed to do trail maintenance, the work time was nearly cut in half.
Ed actually seemed to lighten up some with all the questions, it was almost like dealing with his own little brother. Al had a lot of questions too when Ed showed him. He actually laughed and gave him a little grin. “Ain’t much it can’t do.” In fact there was a water bottle near by that had been abandoned by someone or another it looked like. With a dangerous precision it was slashed down the middle, it even took the water a second or two to react to what had just happened before it came spilling out of the bottle. “..That’s a more complicated story for another day.” He didn’t like that one, so he avoided the hell out of it. “It’s steel mostly and some other bits of other metals.” He looked a little awkward, as if trying to debate whether or not he wanted to answer that question either. “It does, it’s tied into my nervous system. Everything you feel I’m feeling it three fold. When it’s hot? It burns me. But I’m pretty used to it now most of the time.” He shrugged. There were some occasions he just wanted to curl up in a ball and die, but the summer was going to be hot. He accepted it and tried not to complain or worry anyone much.
Ed rolled his eyes at that as he sat on a nearby fence. “Maybe I should work here. Bet I could make that shrub into a bunny or something nice.” He grinned and pointed at a nearby foliage. It was mostly a tease. Ed was lazy as all hell when it came to finding a job even though Al seemed to want money for something or another.
How the arm actually came to be was definitely a story for another day. After Henry had ‘the dreams’ explained to him - likely, Neal would use the swan necklace as an example. Right now, Henry still used it as a keychain - had been after Neal gave it to him at the carnival - but it was a literal totem of True Love that had survived realm travel, and appeared as a result of having those dreams. Eventually, he would know more - and he seemed to be satisfied with the answers at the moment.
“Oh, it really hurts?” He scrunched his brow - that must be kind of sucky. Extra abilities came with a price sometimes, he guessed. “You should definitely work here though!” The kid leaned against the fence, intrigued by this idea. “It’s fun.” Even if he had to get up early - but he’d be going to school soon anyway.
Well, Neal didn’t want to break any child labor laws, but sure. He wouldn’t mind Ed helping out sometimes, and getting paid for it - hard work was good for the soul. “Bet you could,” he motioned toward the shrubbery. “We might have to finagle something.”
“It can yeah. When it snows I can get sick pretty easy because of it, just glad it doesn’t snow much here.” He mused, he’d gotten lucky there compare to the dreams. They had all sorts of wacky weather in them that Ed didn’t miss in real life. In fact recently he’d gotten pretty lucky and seemed to be in the clear as far as dreams and nightmares went.
Ed dangled his feet off the ground from his perch on the fence, where he sat through the fence strained some under his weight. It really didn’t add up with how short he was, but automail was heavy shit. “Hm. Al was complaining at our serious lack of money the other day, but nobody's gonna hire a fourteen year old.” Ed’s only financial worry was how to afford snacks without looking like a pansy doing it and literally delivering pansies.
“It is, I like it here too...but gotta do something about those early hours.” He looked over at Neal with a smirk. “Yeah? It’d be a hell of a lot better than flower delivery..” Plus he already knew most of the kids around anyway. Ed felt comfortable at the ranch these days, it was a stark one eighty compare to his first few visits. He no longer even needed Riza to come in with him. Today in fact she’d just dropped him off.
Neal chuckled a little; no, early hours weren’t for everyone. By now he personally was used to it, but some people just never really adjusted. Or were zombies for the most of the day. “We can have you coming by in the afternoon, I think that’s doable,” he said. “And no flower delivery. Promise. It’d just be what we did before - mostly you’d be helping me anyway. My right hand gardening shear person.”
No time like the present to give it a try, right? He patted Henry on the shoulder, and the kiddo jumped off the fence. “We’ll go do some haying now, see how it goes. You up for it?” Neal asked Ed.
Ed tended to lean toward zombie when early hours were involved. He’d sleep until three P.M. if he were allowed, but most of the time his aunt made him at least wake before noon on a regular day. Ed caught himself watching Henry wistfully for a moment, a slightly somber expression crept into his features. He wondered if his dad had ever been like Neal once, but he severely doubted it. The only thing he remembered his dad doing was leaving one night and not coming back. The blonde shook his head and joined them with a strained grin as he watched Henry join Neal.
He couldn’t help it, when he joined them he hugged Neal. This time it wasn’t nearly as crushing as the last, his control had greatly improved where his strength was concerned. “Yeah..” The grin becoming a little more genuine to be included in things like this for once. “I think we can manage that.”