[action]

[automailed]

[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.]

Comments

[automailed]

[...Tch. Brat. 8|

Edward sighs, though, lifting the bag beside his log.]

You hungry, kid? I've got marshmallows here.

[zorichan]

[A-AHH food. *_* Zoro inches closer. Slowly, slowly... This guy wasn't going to lure him in with food and then murder him, right?

... god, there was just no way to know. But by now the rumbling in his belly was reaching critical mass and he instinctively knew that if he ran back into the forest he would be stuck in it for another few days. Deep breaths.]

Yeah... kinda. [The closer to the light, the braver he got.] What're marshmallows?

[automailed]

[free candy hop in the van Nothing so morbid, at least. Edward snags a stick from beside his seat - he could roast it on his automail, but this kid is already jumpy enough that whipping out a concealed blade would not be smart - and stuffs a marshmallow on the end, holding it over the fire to roast.]

You've never had one? They're these soft, gummy sweets. They're really good for campfires.

[zorichan]

No. [He'd never heard of a sweet you had to cook first. Zoro finally comes close enough to stand next to Edward, looking curiously at the bag of marshmallows. Then at Ed. He blinks a little when he sees the automail.] What's wrong with your hand?

[automailed]

There's nothing wrong with it. [He knows what the kid means, though, tugging his jacket sleeve up to reveal more of the arm and trying not to look uncomfortable about it.] It's called automail- a mechanical arm.

[zorichan]

Oh... [He takes a good, long look at it. Then, slowly, cracks a grin.] Cool.

[Punching people with that thing must be awesome. He takes a seat next to Ed, pulling close the bag of marshmallows and peering inside.] So I gotta put it on a stick, right?

[automailed]

[Huh. That was painless. Edward lifts a brow, then nods, reaching beside his log and snagging a stick from his kindling pile. He offers it out.]

Yeah, try this one.

[He grabs another stick and takes a marshmallow from the bag to demonstrate, piercing it through the center.]

Then you just cook it. Just don't set it on fire, it burns up fast.

[zorichan]

[Zoro tries to copy Ed's method but ends up skewing his marshmallow at a weird angle. Oh. Well. Keeping Ed's instructions in mind, he offers the marshmallow to the fire slowly. He gets impatient, though, and thrusts the whole thing into the fire thinking he could just whip it right back out, no problem.

His marshmallow catches on fire.

Zoro pulls it back quickly, waving the stick around and trying to blow out the flaming sweet. Unfortunately heavy-handed, it takes no effort at all for the marshmallow to melt off the stick and...

... plop to the ground. UMMM. Wow. This is pretty hard, man.]

[automailed]

[Wow,that was pretty fail, little guy. :| Edward glances down at the mush in the dirt, then sighs faintly and pulls his own stick back from the fire, the embers having cooked it into a nice golden brown, crispy looking and smelling delicious. He offers the stick out to Zoro.]

Here, try this one.

[zorichan]

[His face says "I don't need your handouts!" but his hands scream "Gimme!" Zoro takes the squishy marshmallow and stuffs the whole thing into his mouth. Mmph. Sweet was right. He wasn't sure if he liked the taste, but food was food was food.

He wipes his fingers on his raggy pants and squirms free of his sword strap. Laying his katana on the ground (taking care to avoid the squishy black failure at his feet), he thrusts the bag of marshmallows up at Ed.] Show me again.

[automailed]

[Such a kid. Edward smirks and pushes another marshmallow onto the stick, holding it out over the faintly glowing embers rather than the more lively flames.]

You have to wait for it- it cooks fast, but you have to let the heat do the work. Hold it by the embers instead of the main fire, and keep it turning the whole time. That's how you cook a perfect marshmallow.

[zorichan]

[Zoro's expression is one of pure concentration as he tries his best to follow Ed's instructions. He's obviously not built for fiddly activities, but he looks plenty pleased at his progress when he pulls a relatively crispy looking marshmallow from the fire.

He takes a second to appreciate his achievement before swallowing it whole. A little more confident now and obviously planning for a much bigger third serving, Zoro starts jamming marshmallow after marshmallow on his stick.

two... three... four...]

[automailed]

[Edward lets him get to five before he reaches out to take the bag back, laughing under his breath.]

Whoa, okay- don't try to do that many at once! You'll make yourself sick and they'll probably just catch fire again.

[zorichan]

Oi! [Grabby! D8] It'll be ok! At least gimme one more. This is only five.

[... because that logic should totally make sense to you, strange lady man he's mooching food from.]

[automailed]

No, five. You already had one, so that makes six.

[Pig child 8| He holds the bag up, out of reach.]

[zorichan]

But...! [He looks at the stick in his hand, then up at the bag of marshmallows, then at Ed. Then back at the stick. For a brief moment, his eyes slide over to the sword at his side...

... huff.] Fine! [He's gonna sulkily start roasting his five marshmallows. He mutters darkly:]

It'd be better with six...

[automailed]

Your stomach will thank you later.

[Five will do just fine, kiddo. He'll help himself to one or two, though. The bonus of being a teenager living on his own is that there are no such limitations |D]

[zorichan]

[Hmph! Zoro's gonna childishly ignore Ed in favor of roasting his marshmallows. He doesn't even mind that they're catching on fire because they're his marshmallows now and he'll do what he wants with them and anyway he likes them better burnt so there. B[

Have some broody silence for your trouble, Ed.]

[automailed]

[Like he cares if you're mad, brat, he's not your dad 8|]

Hey, your marshmallows are burning.

[zorichan]

[Well YOU SHOULD! Because it's your fault! Grrrr.]

I want 'em that way! [But, still, they do look kind of overdone... He's gonna pull them out of the fire-- NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU SAID!!! D<-- and blow on them sulkily. The top pieces are almost fused to the stick, the bottom-most one barely warm, but he makes an effort to eat through everything.

Zoro's face is gross and sticky after but he can't help but feel proud of himself for... well, he's not actually sure what he's happy about. But he is. SO THERE.]

[automailed]

[Edward doesn't comment- right away. He'll just watch with his brow lifted, munching idly away at his own marshmallow - which, by the way, has been slowly cooked and browned to perfection.]

...So. Worth it?

[That looked disgusting, bro.]

[zorichan]

[The burnt bits left a bad taste in his mouth, ew. But while the look he gives Ed is nothing less than grossed out, his tone certainly implies that he'd just experienced the culinary equivalent of winning the lottery.]

Yes! Itw'sgood. [... he's not very good at lying. >_>]

[automailed]

Uh-huh.

[Wow, that was terrible and he is totally not buying it. But whatever, it's a harmless lie anyway.]

Are you still hungry? I think I've still got hotdogs left. They don't burn as easily as marshmallows.

[zorichan]

[That snaps him out of his marshmallow induced funk. He looks up at Ed eagerly.] What're hotdogs? Can I have some? Do they taste better than marshmallows?

[automailed]

[Edward goes back to the gear behind the log, switching the marshmallow bag with a package of hotdogs and handing one over. He skewers another with his own stick, hovering it over the fire.]

It takes longer to cook, but you can just eat them raw, too. It's meat. ...Sort of.