Who: Al and Hazel What: Hanging out When: Mid July Where: The Park Rating/Warnings: very very low Status: Complete
Al sat on the bench in the park, waiting for Hazel to arrive. Even with stopping to get coffee (tea for Hazel) and some biscotti, he was still a little early. So to pass the time while he waited the blonde had his notebook in his lap as well as the one Ed had given him, scribbling down notes and bits he thought would be important. With his brothers help, he had begun to get better at alchemy. Al even found himself enjoying it. He had been cautious about it because Ed had seemed to suffer so much from it because of their dreams. But they both were careful and he made sure to follow the older Elrics instructions.
He was so wrapped up in his books that he almost didn't realize his friend had arrived. But movement out of the corner of his eye had him looking up and smiling as he saw the girl moving to sit down next to him. Putting the notes away he reached over and grabbed the cup of tea, handing it to her.
“Just the way you like it.” He grinned. “They also had the biscotti you like today.”
Hazel had been dealing with a lot of things. First the dreams, then the powers. She wasn't really sure how to handle it all, but she was doing what she could. It was difficult keeping things to herself. She couldn't really talk about certain things with Nico because he was in her dreams occasionally and she definitely couldn't mention some things because other people she knew were in her dreams. She didn't even think she could mention everything that she was dealing with to her dad because maybe she'd accidentally reveal something that she wasn't supposed to. It was a little stressful keeping everything bottled up, so when Al asked her to come with him to the park, she agreed. Maybe getting out of the house would help.
Not that she hadn't been out of the house. She'd been to Regina's house a few times and she had been working on getting it all under control. She was doing better with it, though. Things only popped up out of the ground in moments of high stress...and only when she was outside. She was safe in school. It was just that she didn't always leave. Not all the time.
Al had been there when she showed up, scribbling away in a notebook. She didn't want to bother him, but she cleared her throat, watching as he started packing up his notes. She took the tea from him, sitting down next to him. "It's hard to mess up tea." She smiled a little at the mention of biscotti. She'd never had it until she started living with her dad. Maria, Nico, and Bianca really liked them. She liked them, but really only from the one place. "I'm assuming that means there's biscotti in my future, then?"
“Psychic abilities must be a talent you have” He joked with a grin as he handed over the bag of treats. “I even got a couple extra in case we had a sudden urge to feed the ducks!”
It was just to just enjoy the outside. It was a beautiful day with a nice cooling breeze. Taking a bite of his own biscotti, he just chewed silently for a moment as they watched the people around the park. Swallowing, he turned to look at his friend. “How are things going for you?”
"Maybe. I kind of hope not because then I'll have to know things before they happen and I don't think I could do that, honestly." Maybe her mother could handle fortunes in her dreams, but Hazel was only just handling the what she had now. "I don't think bread and biscotti are technically good for ducks," she commented easily. "So we might have to eat them all. For the sake of the ducks, naturally."
Hazel ate her biscotti quietly for a moment, just studying the area around her. Most of it was people-watching, but part of it was also to see if she'd managed to cause anything to pop out of the ground. So far nothing seemed to have done so. When Al spoke again, she glanced over at him. "Oh, you know. Cursed jewels, constantly aware of precious metals and gems. Pretty normal." She laughed at that before she quieted, focusing for a moment before pulling a small diamond out of the ground and a lump of gold. "That's pretty good for me, actually. Only don't touch those." To make sure no one did, she focused her energy on making it sink back into the ground.
Al watched curiously as his friend pulled the valuables out of the ground. It was interesting to see other people's abilities that they gained from the dreams. He was glad that she had warned him as he had started to reach out of the gem to inspect.
“What happens when someone touches one?” He asked, grabbing another biscotti instead.
Hazel frowned slightly as she looked at the ground where the gem and gold had been previously. “Well, nothing technically happens if you touch them. Mom used them as payment in the dreams. She’d make me summon them out of the ground and pay people with them. That’s where the curse starts. You can’t use them to pay for things. Doing so only brings great sadness.”
Glancing over at Alphonse, her expression was more serious. “I couldn’t live with myself if something bad happened to someone because of me and my abilities. I didn’t want to do it in the dreams, but I didn’t really have a choice. Well, I did, but it was difficult to tell my mother no when I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“That sounds pretty awful,” he commented with a small frown. He really hoped Hazel's mother wasn't anything like the one in her dreams. And he had though his father just up and leaving had been bad. “I'm really starting to wonder if anyone here actually has good dreams.”
Finishing up his biscotti he picked up his coffee to wash it down, looking at the spot where the jewels had come up from. He wondered if his friends own ability was kind of like a form of alchemy in some way. “How long have you been able to do that?”
Hazel fidgeted slightly with her sleeve. “Well…” she started. “It was, yeah.” A sigh. “I don’t know if anyone has good dreams. My friend has pretty terrible dreams, too. I don’t think I’ve seen him happy about a dream since we’ve started talking about them. Something’s always happening.” She wished that she had good dreams. That they’d just all have good dreams. It was probably too much to ask, though.
“Um. I forget exactly when it started. I was having dreams and then it started. But it hasn’t been too long. I wish it would stop, honestly. At least most of the time. I’m controlling it because I have to, but if I didn’t have it, I think I’d prefer it.”
Al nodded a little in understanding. He knew what it was like to wake up and suddenly have an ability. Though his didn't seem to be cursed like hers was. And he and his brother willingly wanted to learn alchemy. It wasn't forced on them.
“Is it hard?” He asked. “Controlling it I mean,”
“Not now. At first, it used to crop up every time I got anxious or nervous. And that only made me more anxious and nervous. But I can pull things up and return them back on my own now. And find them if I focus enough.” She closed her eyes for a moment and said, “Three feet down is a very small lump of silver.”
When she opened her eyes, she gave him a smile. “But come on. We should probably start walking. We have way too many books to get before school starts again and I need to find the audio books. I hate summer reading.”
Alphonse returned Hazel’s smile with one of his own before standing up with her. “Walking definitely sounds like a plan.” He agreed. Throwing their empty cups away, he walked with her along the path as they talked over the various books they were reading. Or in Hazel’s case, listening to.