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.

[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.

[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?

[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!

[rewritethis]

[Ed freezes up for a second, as if in shock. Then, just as abruptly, he claps his hands and wheels round, shedding bluish sparks. He's pointing a long blade straight at Greed before the remains of his right glove have finished fluttering to the floor.] Is this proof enough for you?!

[Because goddamn, whether or not he's sure what the hell that jab was even supposed to mean, a day when he's feeling as acutely isolated as he is today is not a good time to mention Envy. ...Well, okay, there's never a good time to mention Envy, but today, bringing him up brings a whole other flood of things rushing back.]

[gotgreedy]

[And THAT is what that jab was for, Ed! Greed doesn't seem at all surprised by Ed's reaction; to the contrary, he seems just as pleased as ever.]

Not really. Envy was a shapechanger, after all. Little trick like that, that'd be nothing for him to fake.

You wanna fight, though, we're taking it outside. I don't want you hurting any of my property -- current or future.

[rewritethis]

[A reaction like that is hardly going to convince Ed to calm down.] Don't you [he claps again] call me a fake, you bastard!

[With no regard whatsoever for the safety of any bystanders who weren't shooed out of this corridor by his earlier performance, he lunges, palms out.]

[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".]

[gotgreedy]

[Would've been -- was -- a good strategy against the first Greed, but Ling's body is far quicker than that artificial construction. He springs backwards, vaulting back down the hall. Of course, to make sure Ed knows his challenge is met, he deploys his shield around one arm with a flourish.]

[rewritethis]

[He's just letting this jerk goad him into going along with whatever ulterior motive the guy has. On some level, Ed even realises it. He doesn't have the faintest clue about what this version of Greed is capable of. They won't be fighting on his terms. If this is serious, even if he gets out unhurt, he can't exactly hit up the nearest mechanic. This is a really terrible time for a nostalgia trip. There are a million reasons why the sensible option right now would be to drop everything and walk away.

He ignores all of them.]

You...!!

[Swiftly recovering his balance, he rockets down the hall, coat flying.]

[gotgreedy]

[He'd chosen this hall for a reason -- reaching the end, Greed pulls open the fire escape, and with a taunting wave dives out onto the ledge outside. To jump onto the railing. For a dramatic pose when Ed catches up to him.]

[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!

[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.]

[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.]

[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]

[Forget the pose - clapping again as he leaps out after Greed, Ed makes a grab for the railing. It won't stay a particularly stable foothold for long.]

[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.]

[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!