[Written / Action]

[automailed]

[A series of separate journal entries would have been posted over the course of several days; Edward will have a somewhat sporadic response time for them, too. He might respond for a few hours and then not until the day following the entry ICly anyway-- I'll be tagging it normally 8|, since the cryptic commentary in each day's entry hints at how he's messed up the journal to see how (and how soon) it fixes itself the next day. Therefore he won't have a journal to respond unless he steals Al's.

If you're not sure of what your character is up to during the week feel free to tag with a placeholder or something and tag later. OR IGNORE THIS TL;DR AND LAUGH AT MY DORKING IDC]



Day 1 - Monday

I don't miss that idiot colonel, but his alchemy would come in handy in this place. At least Al showed up after I did, so the three of us from Resembool are here. Familiar faces make it easier, and if I can't escape easily I can at least keep myself occupied.

My goal is to be out of here within a month.




Day 2 - Tuesday

Woke up at 7 this morning. The fireplace is out, so it's cold that early. I'm still tired; I feel like I could have slept for at least 15 hours. And why do kettles always take forever to boil? I just want some damn coffee before I go out to have a look around.

I don't think three spoonfuls of sugar is too much, either. It dissolves just fine if the water's warm enough.

Addendum from yesterday: A month is too long.




Day 3 - Wednesday

Al got me up an hour earlier today. It's warmer today- I went down by the river for a while. Saw a small flock of cranes, all with white feathers. I thought I'd see some markings, but maybe they disappear when they change into adults?

I counted maybe 16-30 of them. Moved too fast to be sure.




Day 4 - Thursday

Slept in till 9. Sleep schedule's been messed up since I got here. Why is it so inconsistent?

The flock from yesterday didn't show up again today, but there was a spotted chick in a nest by the bridge. A fox or something might've gotten the mother- there were a few torn feathers not far away. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow to check on it. Today I'm getting back to the library.

Addendum: I counted six books on birds alone. Zero on Alchemy. Do books appear here at random the way people do?



Day 5 - Friday

Wake-up was 7 again today. Al, just let me sleep in tomorrow. I'm going further down the river this afternoon, but there's nothing new to see right now. Still no mother at the nest, but the chick is fine, so I guess it's okay.

I'll look into this more later.




[Aaaaand Action bit:

Monday- Edward is at home, since Winry expected him to be around so he could be introduced to Haruhi. And he's kind of wondering if Al needs to be around for the very same thing, but it hadn't been mentioned to him...

Well, none of his business.

Tuesday-Friday - he'll be out and about in the village if you'd rather just bump into him at the locations mentioned.]


[ooc note: Since these happen over the course of the week, it'd be great if you guys could put the day your character comments in the subject line. And feel free to comment again with another day if it tickles your fancy (in your thread or otherwise) or just comment on the last day. It's pretty open.]

Comments

[dragoneer]

Ahhh...I-I don't think so? I think mine is pretty, um, rare. At least, I haven't really seen any other dragons around.

[Of course, Hiccup hadn't exactly been out dragon hunting.]

[automailed]

So is it safe?

[Not exactly a pet person, but hey, he's not going to ignore the existence of a mythical animal right in front of him.]

[dragoneer]

[Toothless snorts and swallows the fish he's holding in one gulp. Hiccup laughs nervously.]

Ahahaha, well, in most cases, yes. I mean, as long as you don't get on his bad side. He's really a big softie.

[Which earns him a smack in the head with Toothless' tail.]

Ow!

[automailed]

[Oh yeah, he looks real safe. Enjoy more of his skeptical look, Hiccup.]

If you say so.

[dragoneer]

N-no, he really is! He's just--

[Hiccup stop shorts as Toothless trots over towards Ed, giving him an intense look. Hiccup, meanwhile, notices Ed's automail, and--hey, didn't that look like the stuff Winry worked on at the forge?]

Heeeey, did Winry make those for you?

[Puts Hiccup's own little latch peg leg to shame, really. He's been meaning to work on that, though.]

[automailed]

What? Ah, yeah- [Edward leans back a little - dragon uncomfortably close, thanks - and rolls up his sleeve, showing more of his metal limb.] You know about automail?

[Hang on, this guy's leg... how did he not notice that before?]

[dragoneer]

[Toothless leans in and sniffs him a little, eyes still locked on Ed. Curious Hiccup remains curious, staring at his automail arm.]

Ahhh...well, sort of? I mean, I've just seen Winry work on it before. It's...it's really fascinating, though.

[automailed]

[Edward glances away somewhat awkwardly; generally he doesn't really enjoy the scrutiny, but lots of people find automail interesting, and... well, if this guy is in the same kind of situation, he may as well see it in practice.]

...Are you going to get it too?

[He doesn't look at Hiccup's pegleg, but... he probably doesn't have to.]

[dragoneer]

[Hiccup gulps a bit--this was probably pretty personal, wasn't it? He could really use some tact right about now.]

Well, to be honest, I...don't know much about besides that Winry works with it. But it...[He glances down at his leg.] Proooobably better than what I'm working with, here.

[automailed]

[Edward lifts his shoulders in a slight shrug. He's alright discussing the mechanics of it - to the best of his ability, anyway - so long as no one's demanding why he needed automail in the first place.]

Probably. I can't deny that it's a convenient alternative.

[dragoneer]

Uhhh...how does it work, exactly?

[It would be nice to have a foot again. And ankles and toes and everything. Toothless decides he's stared at Ed long enough, and seeing how Hiccup seems interested in him, he sits back on his haunches and watches casually.]

[automailed]

[Ed can't help but watch the dragon out of the corner of his eye- he doesn't have a great history with large animals, so he's still wary.]

You'd be better off asking Winry about that, she can explain it in detail. What I know is that I had a port installed here- [He rests a hand on his shoulder briefly,] And the automail limb connects to that. As long as the nerves still work, the arm moves like it's real.

[dragoneer]

Wow, really? [A little smile crosses his face. Because that? Is really really fascinating.] I had no idea it was that...real.

[automailed]

Yeah, it's why automail is so popular in Amestris. [He punches the air a few times, then turns his body to do the same with his leg - just like during practice - the metal plating visible over his pant leg demonstrating that yep, the foot is just as mobile as his arm.] It's worth a try if you can handle the surgery.

[dragoneer]

[His eyes widen, a little jolt of shock crosses his features. He was not aware of that part.] Uhh-hhm, s-surgery? That's...um...Iiii didn't know that it involved surgery.

[It's especially frightening given his knowledge of viking surgeries, which amounted to nothing more than blank amputations in most cases. He didn't know how Gobber had stood it.]

[automailed]

Of course, surgery. How do you think the automail is installed?

[You can't just glue it on and expect it to move, geez 8|]

[dragoneer]

[His lips thin into a long, uneasy frown.]

Ahhhh, w-well, I don't know, I guess I just thought, you know, you could just...stick it on. [He glances down at the pegleg. That's about all they'd done for this, anyway.

He glances back up at end.]

Is...is it painful?

[automailed]

[....W-well. May as well be fair to the guy so he knows what he's getting into.]

I can't lie to you- it doesn't feel great. The surgery can make you cough up blood, and rehabilitation usually takes years. It might make life easier for you, but getting started isn't easy at all.

[dragoneer]

[He bites his lower lip. A few years? He couldn't...no. He couldn't do that. Toothless wouldn't be able to fly, either. And that wouldn't be fair. Hiccup couldn't do something that selfish.]

...Oh. I guess...I'll probably be sticking with this little thing, then.

[automailed]

Probably for the best if you don't think you can take it. It's Equivalent Exchange- there's always a price for convenience.

[dragoneer]

[Hiccup nods, but he looks a little downtrodden--great, so he was stuck with his pegleg unless he wanted to undergo some serious physical trauma. And just when he thought he might actually have ten toes again...]

Well, um...that's good to know, at least. Th-thanks...sorry, what's your name?

[It only registers now he's been talking to a complete stranger about this.]

[automailed]

Edward. [Poor guy, he was probably looking forward to getting a real limb back. But it's better to be upfront about it, just like Pinako was with him.

Still...]

...You should talk to Winry about it anyway. My automail is a more extreme case than yours- my whole arm, and my leg as well. Replacing just a foot wouldn't be as hard to recover from.

[dragoneer]

N-nice to meet you, Ed. I'm...Hiccup.

[He takes note of this, but he won't let himself get his hopes up again.] Th-thanks, I will. I actually work with her at the smithy, so...I'll probably see her pretty soon.

[automailed]

How many people work there, anyway? That's three I've met now. [Must be a pretty full house, the building isn't that big.

Well, it doesn't concern him anyway, metalworking isn't his thing unless he's transmuting it.]

[dragoneer]

Ahhh, there's four of us. Me, Winry, this guy named Sokka, and this guy named Ed that Iiii manage to keep missing. [Hiccup does feel pretty bad about that.] Is it your thing, too? Are you going to join up?