11. [Action]

[rewritethis]

[Slamming doors, brushing off greetings, shoving through crowds, hogging textbooks in the library, glaring at anyone who even momentarily makes eye contact - whatever Garden's crankiest alchemist happens to be doing on this otherwise unremarkable day of classes, he seems to have kicked it up a notch. Which, yes, is noticeable, thank you very much.

The sole exceptions to this are the several occasions throughout the day when he takes to skulking around the front of the infirmary, getting in people's way and generally contriving to give the impression that he's there by accident. When he thinks nobody is looking, he begins to furtively sneak round a corner, approximately in the direction of one particular bed.

But of course he isn't in a bad mood! Why would he be in a bad mood? If you want to suggest otherwise, you damn well better come over and say it to his face!]

Comments

[gotgreedy]

[As Ed gets particularly rough with some poor cadet who committed the crime of blocking the hall, a low whistle sounds from one of the classroom doors.]

Nice one, Fullmetal. I think you might have made him cry.

[rewritethis]

[He doesn't need to look round, so he doesn't.] Want to join him?

[gotgreedy]

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sure you can deliver. Besides, I think I saw an upright ice cream cone down the hall, isn't that your worst enemy right now?

[rewritethis]

[Still with his back to Greed, he narrows his eyes.] Let's not make any hasty assumptions.

[gotgreedy]

Who's assuming? You're going to so much effort to be a jerk, I figured you'd gone down the path of evil. Either that or Father made a human homunculus out of you with Envy as the base.

That you in there, dear brother?

[eventohell]

[She's just passing through, when she sees the makings of a temper tantrum. Gently setting her bag onto the floor, she makes her way to the infirmary entryway.]

Edward, you are acting like a child.

[Leave it to her to call it how it is.]

I understand that you are worried for your friend. But that doesn't give you an excuse to take it out on other's.

[rewritethis]

[How did she know...?

He scowls up at her.] I'm just standing here. That's not a crime.

[eventohell]

[Twilight Sparkle is her roommate. She's equally as worried about Twilight as you are about Rainbow Dash. , even if she doesn't show it.]

And scowling like a child..... taking your attitude out on other people just because you are worried.

[She smirks a bit.]

You're starting to sound like the Colonel.

[rewritethis]

[If Ed had been drinking anything just then, that would have been an appropriate time for a spittake. But he wasn't, so he just blanches.] How?! I told you, I'm just standing here, not swaggering around like I own the place!

[eventohell]

[How? Well, let her count thy ways....

The memory of Jean's paralysis is still fresh in her mind. It was like it was yesterday that she watched over the Colonel's shoulder as he poured into books about reversing spinal paralysis.]

You're a remarkably devoted friend to those you want to protect, but you also have a terrible way of showing it. You're also as equally stubborn-if you can help it.

Hence, you hovering in the doorway while your friend recovers.

[She gestures to the infirmary door as she mentions it.]

I strongly recommend you find other ways to keep yourself distracted.

[She looks through the crack in the doorway to see Twilight and grimaced. It has certainly been quiet in the dorm without her.]

[tiamat_shot]

[When he's not up in someone's face, Emias does a pretty good job of keeping a low profile. This might be exactly why he keeps running afoul of Ed, be it from getting doors slammed in his face, having EXACTLY the textbook he needed snagged from the shelf moments before he could get there, or practically getting punted as the alchemist shoves his way past people. Somehow, the moogle has repeatedly ended up right in the warpath.

Thus, it's entirely unsurprising when, later in the day, a death glare gets answered with an eyeroll that all but screams "oh, it's this jerk again".]

[rewritethis]

[Bzzt! Wrong response. Not that there was really a right one, under the circumstances.

Ed bristles.] Oh, you think it's funny to keep on standing there when people need to get through? Is that it?

[tiamat_shot]

Get through? What for, kupo? So you can go terrorize more cadets?!

[Yeah, he'd kept quiet long enough.]

You don't own this place, so stop stomping around like you do!

[rewritethis]

[Well, when someone shouts at Ed, he has to shout back. Equivalent exchange, you know.]

How is trying to walk past you in the hall stomping around like I own the place?! [He brandishes a pointer finger in Emias's face.] It's not like it belongs to you, either!

[tiamat_shot]

I'm not just talking about that, kupo! You've... you've been just storming around all day, wreckin' everyone's good mood and not giving a single care about it!

[Keep that pointer finger there, Ed. He'll bite it.]

[youngnobelman]

[Bored:] Still no change, and you can stop sneaking.

[Because Touma has literally labelled a chair "Edward" and planted an extra one there for Rainbow's other friends.

[How does he know his name? Date auctions, SeeD access to ID lists, etc.]

[rewritethis]

[No, he isn't about to stop sneaking. For that matter, he hasn't been sitting in the chair either. At the moment he's hovering a little ways behind it, pretending not to be half as awkward as he looks.]

Are you sure it's not some kind of illness? It's looking like one hell of a coincidence otherwise.

[Just like this isn't the first time he's shown up in here today, that wasn't the first time he's asked this particular question.]

[youngnobelman]

[Sit in it or don't sit in it; either way it's reserved for him.

[Despite Touma's earlier tone, he does have some sympathy for him, as this has happened to his own friends.] I'd lean towards the coincidence: Usually these are isolated cases, and it hasn't affected anyone she or Cadet Sparkle would have been in contact with recently.

[This is similarly an old answer, but this time he has additional info, passing over some sheets of paper stapled together. They're extracts from the medical records of a few other people who have been in these comas (and have since been time compressed out, not that these sheets say that), with the names removed ("the patient" did this or did that or did nothing at all), all with the same symptoms. In each case, there are at least three days of stability before the patient woke up three days later with no apparent harm, but appearing physically aged far more than a few days and claiming to have been home.]

[rewritethis]

[Ed takes the records without so much as a nod of gratitude and thumbs through them, frowning.]

But let's not forget there's a species barrier anyway. I'm just saying, if it does turn out to be serious, you're not gonna come out smelling like roses for ignoring it at the start, you know.

[Yep, it's totally Touma's career he's concerned about.]

[youngnobelman]

Oh, yes, I'm sure I'll be vilified for immediately stabilizing them, scanning their brains for any issues, continually monitoring their status, occasionally moving them, and making sure they're still getting the right levels of nutrients, liquids, and electrolytes for their species and builds.

[It's... actually remarkably mild in tone, because he's pretty sure it's just out of concern for a friend and not a personal dig.

[Besides. Nobel Prize laureate who hates GPing. Even Touma has no concern for his career. Touma stopped being concerned for his career when his sister had been on her feet for six months without any major issues.]

[tapthekeg]

[This is the kind of thing that Lihau notices quite easily.]

You must be truly in distress to act so upset.

[rewritethis]

[Ed looks up from the door handle that he just narrowly avoided pulling clean off. When he sees who's talking to him, his scowl, if anything, intensifies. Sheesh. Well, at least "Garden" might not be a misnomer, as long as they weren't thinking of the botanical kind.]

Who the hell are you?

[tapthekeg]

Lihau Pyrestout. A new arrival here, as it were.

[If the scowl bothers her, she doesn't show it -- she's used to those kinds of looks by now, both from her world and here. As it is, she simply gives him a concerned look.]

What troubles you?

[rewritethis]

Outta my way, lady. [Probably a lady, right?] I'm not in the mood.

[tapthekeg]

[She has breasts, what do you think?]

No. Whatever upsets you, you certainly cannot go terrorizing others for it.