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[October 3rd again. Don't forget. This marks the second time he's hit this date in Luceti, and the first time in his life since carving the words upon his pocket watch that he's met it without Alphonse. That's probably what hurts the most, this time. No closer to getting home, no closer to regaining their bodies, even though he knows that he's only a day away from victory when he goes home. The second worst part is that he's only one day past an experiment that stole those memories from him- that he had, in fact, forgotten. Hadn't even known what the watch or the date upon it even meant.

Tch... stupid place. For the first time in a while, he hates it again.

He's going to keep up with the annual tradition anyway, for Al's sake as much as his, so tonight at the back of House #23, some time after dinner, Edward will be seated at a campfire, occasionally tossing logs into the flames, with a collection of snacks, some books, and notebook paper piled around him to get some work done. He'll be there all night, so any nighthawks or curious passerbys are free to stop in and see what's up.]

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[Edward doesn't notice at first, too focused on what he's working on at the time, but before long the reflected light in Simba's eyes catches his attention and he abruptly stands up.]

I don't know who's watching, but I can see you, so you might as well come out. [...] And if you're that damn bear again and you're looking for a fight, I'm gonna make you regret it. Today's not a good day for this.

[Oh. Simba's ears fold back and he ducks his head at that. Oops. Guess he's really not that good at the whole sneaking and stalking thing yet. So he just... awkwardly steps forward into the light, his tail swaying slowly behind him as he tries not to meet Edward's gaze.]

Um... sorry.

[Talking lion.

....

Well, now he's seen everything.]

Oh, uh. It's fine. Thought you were someone else.

[He sits back down, waving the cub off. Don't be scared, he's just cranky.]

[He wasn't really scared... not of Edward anyway. Otherwise he would have run away. In fact, there's something about this guy, and Simba walks towards the fire to sit down next to him.]

Can I sit next to you?

Sure, I don't mind. [Edward waves a hand, sliding his log back about a foot to make room for Simba to sit, just to make sure there's enough distance between them and the fire. Sparks and fur would be a bad combination.]I didn't know some of the animals here got wings, too.

[Normally Simba might have been kinda annoyed by that but tonight he didn't feel like it. The cub sits in the cleared space next to Ed and stares at the fire. His voice sounds melancholy and tired.]

I'm not like them.. I was brought here just like you.

[Ah, that explains it. Edward glances sidelong at Simba, curious at his tone. He sounds kind of wasted, isn't anyone looking after him?]

...You got a name? I'm Edward.

Simba.

[He just keeps staring at the fire, almost mesmerized by how close it is and yet isn't spreading.]

[He glances down, noticing the apparent fire fixation.]

What is it? You've never seen a campfire before?

[Simba almost doesn't hear the question as his thoughts had started to wander. It takes him a moment before he realizes he was being spoken to. He blinks and looks up.]

Huh? Oh... uh. No, not really.

Guess that makes sense... you're usually in the wild, right? [Edward reaches out with a stick, giving the fire a little poke to knock some sparks away from where Simba's sitting.] It's okay, it won't spread outside of the stones around it. Just don't sit too close.

Yeah, but its kinda weird to hear it said like that cause the wild is all there is in my world.

[Simba nods at the mention of not getting too close. His wild instinct knows that much, and thus has a healthy respect for the flames.]

So what're you doing out here? Aren't humans supposed to sleep at night?

Some do. [He thinks of Al, who hasn't been able to sleep a single night for the past four-five years. He's spent plenty of nights awake with his brother like this, but never enough.] But people have free will. They can sleep or stay up whenever they want.

Oh, yeah I guess so. I just thought maybe you couldn't sleep.

[Kinda like how he couldn't.]

[Edward glances over at the little lion. He's surprisingly expressive for an animal... and he sounds kind of nervous, too.

....

He pokes cautiously at the fire again.]

I guess that's part of it, yeah.

Edited (identity cries wat) 2012-10-21 17:55 (UTC)

[Simba scuffs his paw against the ground in a fidgeting manner.]

I couldn't sleep either.

Something keeping you up?

[He's not great for therapy sessions, but he can at least listen. A lion this small has got to be young.]

Yeah, I keep having bad dreams.

[So he decided to wander around outside instead.]

...Mm. [Oh man, cat, he has so been there.] When that happens to me I like to stay up, too. You want to talk about it?

[That helps too... sometimes. Though he generally doesn't make a habit of it.]

[Simba flattens his ears and ducks his head as he thinks about that. Again he shuffles his paw, still looking down as he starts to speak.]

Have you ever done something really terrible that you can't take back?

[That doesn't take much thought. The memory that comes to mind is immediate: blood, screaming, the failed transmutation, Alphonse's body and his own leg being disassembled and lost...]

...Yeah, I have.

That's what I've been dreaming about.

[He doesn't ask what it was. He doesn't ask how a little cub like that can do something so terrible.

He can guess at the answers to those questions, and they're not what anyone would want to hear right now.]

If it's something you can't take back, the first step is dealing with that problem. Figure out what you did wrong - what you could've done differently - and then forgive yourself for it.

[Not easy, he knows. But that's part of the reality of life.]

[Yeah that's not easy at all.]

I'm... not really sure how to do that.

It takes a while, I know that much. And it's never easy. I'm no expert, but... sometimes if you tell somebody you trust, get it all out there, and... if they still accept you for it, it helps.

[He looks down, thinking of Izumi- of how much it had meant to he and Al when she hugged them, told them that it was okay to cry, cared for them even after they'd disobeyed her and committed such a terrible taboo. It had changed their lives for the better.]

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