[Action]

[automailed]

[When Edward Elric wakes up in the middle of the forest after his kidnapping, he is not quite himself. Outwardly, of course, there is no change- he looks a little more tired, perhaps, as if he's been sleeping poorly, and it seems like he hasn't eaten well for the past month. If asked, he'll complain about a seemingly perpetual hunger that no amount of food seems to satisfy.

Beyond the physical sense, however, he's not Edward at all. Not that he'll let anyone else know about it. There's a homunculus in control of his body, tied by a twisted bloodline, with a maelstrom of wailing voices in the back of his mind, one he's grown so used to over the course of several hundred years that it's nothing but a dull background noise now. With one additional voice that just happens to be louder than all of the others-

"You bastard! You bastard, Pride, give me back my body!! You think I'm going to sit here quietly while you use me like this!? You can't just take over!! You can't shut me up, dammit!!"

But even with all that shouting, all that effort... it's still nothing more than just that: background noise. And he can ignore it, as long as it takes. Homunculi are skilled at such things.

Still- he lingers in the woods for a while, considering his next step. Separated from Amestris and Father, no goals to be met, no Promised Day of which to ensure the successful passage, no allies to speak of, and a new body to which he needs to adjust. Fullmetal has friends here, people who would fight him if they knew the truth. And as strong as he is, he can't fight off an entire village of powerful fighters.

The alternative is obvious, and not, he assumes, difficult. He's spent more than fifty years pretending to be a young child; a teenage alchemist shouldn't be that hard.

When he finally makes it into the village, his first step is not to head back to his own house. Truth be told, he's not certain where that house is. His priority instead is getting himself a good meal, and for his current stomach, that means ordering a lot. So "Edward" can be found in Seventh Heaven for most of the afternoon, eating enough food to fill about five people, minimum. With a bit of directional help, he'll be heading to the smithy to look for Winry, then home itself. He can be pestered in any of those locations, in the woods, or in the village somewhere on the way. He's been gone for a month, so his sudden return is something to celebrate, right...?]


(ooc: like the post says, Ed's basically shifted to an AU where Pride took over his body in volume 26 of his canon. This means that his body is that of a human-based homunculus, and has the strengths and weaknesses of Pride and (to a lesser extent) Gluttony. The journal prided may occasionally be used for special icons, but he'll be keeping his true identity on the down-low as much as possible. If your character can sense multiple souls or other such things, please contact me! It would suck to spoil the surprise to everyone before it's time |D)

Comments

action; seventh heaven

[hero_of_smiles]

[Making food at home is too much of a task. Besides, this one can't even boil water properly. So, he's taking the easy way out again. Time to go get some delicious food from the glorious Seventh Heaven.

As he's walking in through the door, he stops to see off by his lonesome Ed is devouring what could be considered a small army's worth of food five people being a small army in Cross' mind.

The two of them had talked briefly, talking being more like arguing. However, Cross has forgotten his own annoyances with that conversation and you know, he's going to say hi.]

Hey, Ed, right? What's up...? Other than you looking like you may be starving half to death.

action; seventh heaven

[automailed]

[Edward - Pride - pauses mid-bite, looking Cross up and down, studying his body language, analyzing his tone, prying at whatever glimpses of Fullmetal's memories that he can reach. Friend? No, acquaintance of some sort. No one special, but not a stranger, either.]

...I'm having lunch, what's it look like?

action; seventh heaven

[hero_of_smiles]

[Eh? Well, that as rather blunt.]

Well, yeah, I can see that. I just meant in general.

[savedtheworld]

[Aang happened to be heading into Seventh Heaven for something quick and easy when he saw Ed gorging himself on food. Looks like he's finally back.

So Aang approaches with a bright smile on his face.]

Hey, Ed!

[automailed]

[The longer he remains in this body, the easier it gets to invade upon Fullmetal's memories. This one comes to mind more clearly- a campfire, of some sort? Familiar, for sure. A friend.

He musters a smile after a moment.]

...Hey.

[savedtheworld]

[It was a quieter greeting than Aang had expected. But then, having just come back from a kidnapping, he had to be tired - that would explain the big appetite. Although Aang also realizes this might be a regular thing considering he's never seen him eating an actual meal before.

He nears the table and grabs at an empty seat.]

I'm glad to see you're back. And already replenishing your strength! All that food's gotta help you feel better.

action;

[dragoneer]

[When "Edward" comes to the smithy, Hiccup, hearing the door, grabs his crutches and hobbles out front to help whoever's come in - needless to say, he wasn't expecting to see his friend there. He nearly falls over himself.]

Ed! You - you're back? That's great! [HE HASN'T SEEN YOU FOR AGES MAN.]

action;

[automailed]

[Another friend? Definitely getting that impression. Pride's gaze drifts to the leg; no actual injury comes to mind, but with the automail foot, the answer seems obvious. He gestures to it anyway, brows lifting questioningly.]

Yeah, I just got back today. How's the leg?

action;

[dragoneer]

[Huh. Well, that's a relief. Hiccup was never at ease with the idea of one of his friends being in Malnosso hands.]

It's a lot better! I mean, you know. Still can't really use it. But the pain's eased up a bit. Uh - what about you?

[not_a_troll]

[Loki watches the other with growing fascination. Of course he has seen men devour so much food in the past, but those men were mostly called Volstagg.

This was a mere teen.]

I dare you to go for sevenths.

[He could not really go and call this 'going for seconds' anymore.]

[automailed]

[Pride pauses mid-bite at the sudden interruption, though he doesn't look particularly surprised; he'd felt eyes on him for some time now. He'd been wondering if it had been suspicion, that his behaviour was somehow noteworthy, but now that he's been addressed, there's no familiarity to go hand in hand with the challenge.

He leans back in his seat, lifting a brow.]

Is this a wager?

[not_a_troll]

Aye! It is!

[The grin on Loki's face broadens and he nods again to emphasize that this is, indeed, a wager.]

[installing]

[Winry is asleep at her desk when Pride arrives. She hasn't been able to sleep through a full night in the last week or so because Ed's been gone so long. Her worry kept her up, and now she's catching Z's in an unfortunate place because of it. She leans on her desk, breathing evenly, and a pencil lies on the floor from rolling out of her hand when she passed out.]

[automailed]

[Ah, there she is- Fullmetal's girlfriend. The alchemist in his head has been getting progressively louder the longer he searched for her, and by the time Pride finds her sleeping and gives her shoulder a prod, he's practically screaming. What an irritant, especially when he had no plans to hurt her.

After all, like with Hawkeye, you don't destroy a valuable hostage.]

Oi, Winry. Wake up.

1/2

[installing]

[The woman groans, and picks up her head. Half of Winry's face is red from sleeping on it with small indents of the spiral ring of her notebook on her cheek.]

Sokka, do I look like I want to get u-

[installing]

[Before she finishes her sentence she opens her eyes. That's not Sokka. Quickly she jumps up from her seat, and opens her arms for a hug.]

Ed, you're back!

[markofthewise]

[Even though Sokka now gets all his lunches delivered to him now, sometimes he likes to stop into Seventh Heaven for a little special something on the side. That was the plan, until he spotted a familiar figure at one of the tables.

... that was a lot of food. He approaches Ed from behind.]

If you're trying to fill the voice left by Luffy, you're off to a good start. [All the same, Sokka gives Ed a pat on the shoulder as he comes around the table to face him.]

[automailed]

[Neither the name or the guy interrupting him are particularly familiar to Pride, but to be openly physical usually takes familiarity, so he offers Sokka up a casual wave.]

What's wrong with being hungry? I feel like I haven't eaten in a month.

[markofthewise]

[Okay, Sokka winces at that.]

Wow, they were starving you? I know they're bad in there, but that?

[He plops down in the chair opposite of Ed.]

action;

[oftheyin]

[The second Edward returned the Luceti, Ran Fan sensed him. She, of course, had no idea it was him, but she could sense the souls in him.

Her chest tightened, because for a moment there she thought it could be Ling, but she knew that couldn't be. New feathers weren't showing up right now, so there was n way it was him. But then, if it was a new feather, then who could it be?

Quickly, she headed out to see who was out there. Knowing this place, it could be something else completely. But when she reached Edward, using the trees to travel, she knew exactly what was going on.

She hopped down, automailed up and ready to attack. Just in case.]

Who are you?

action;

[automailed]

[He doesn't recognize her face, but the outfit is familiar; more than that - and the one thing that keeps him from pretending to be Edward - is the scent that he knows immediately, thanks to having swallowed Gluttony's Philosopher's Stone. The Xingese warrior, the one whose arm Wrath had severed. One of the four with the ability to sense the presence of homunculus. This complicates things. He hadn't expected her.

Knowing that faking it is pointless, he offers up a cold smile, his eyes shadowed.]

You're a brave one, facing me alone like this, knowing what I am.

[revolutionarygirl]

[Because Edward had already told her that he might not be the best penpal, Utena figured he might have forgotten to write letters to her. Which was no big deal--she hadn't really remembered to write him, either. She's just been doing whatever she can to not get too terribly homesick, including visiting the flower shop and tea shop whenever she can. Letter-writing just slipped her mind...

But today she's at Seventh Heaven. Utena's been in Luceti for almost a year, but she doesn't come here a lot, even though she likes the food. When she notices Edward, she approaches him.]

Oi, Edward! Funny running into you here, huh? [Well, maybe not. Both of them do live in the village, after all. But hey, she doesn't run into him much! She then notices all the food.] Wow, it looks like you've really had an appetite today. [Is he always like this?]

[automailed]

[Another one whose name doesn't come to mind immediately; it's frustrating, but he doesn't let it show on his face. Instead, he lifts a free hand to wave at her, using the other to finish the fry he's still in the middle of chewing on.]

Yo. [Chew, chew, chew, swallow.] I haven't eaten for a while, so I'm making up for lost time.

[asobouyo]

[One thing Edward can expect getting home? A worried little girl rushing in for the kill. That is, a kid jumping his legs and looking completely relieved; not long beforehand she'd been at school, mind wandering—sad ponderings, about things like family that were missing in action and brothers who could very well be getting hurt.

She's gotten used to the creak of a door being no wanted news, nowadays. Usually not the person she hopes it is. But this time—this time is a little different. She's not waiting for the door to open; she's opening it herself. His name is practically a beacon in her eyes.

Edward!

She smiles up after rushing over, relieved.

So relieved.]

You're back! You're back!

[WHEN DID YOU GET BACK THIS IS SO WONDERFUL.]

[automailed]

[By now, he's gotten enough information from various people and the alchemist's memories to recognize the girl, so her greeting is an immediate smile and a gentle ruffle of the hair.]

Hey, Elicia. Sorry to have kept you worried all this time.