automailed | [Voice/Action] this is the latest goddamn post

[It’s an abnormally quiet household for Edward and Winry today, now that the third member of their family is gone, and while he’d be content to keep his misery to himself in any other situation, this particular little person has made a huge impact in enough lives that it needs to be shared. So...]

Hey, Edward here. For everyone who knew her, Elicia Hughes was sent home.

[Locked to Sheena, Tony, Katniss, and Law]

There was some stuff here left for you, if you want to swing by sometime and pick it up.

[Ed’s going to be hanging around the house for most of the day, though by late afternoon he’ll be going to the Battle Dome to basically destroy everything he can get away with in the simulations until he drags himself home or is otherwise kicked out. In the evening, however, he's actually going to swing by the bar. Not for drinking, necessarily, it just seems like the place to go when you want to wallow.

He's only just finished his second year in Luceti, and this happens? Yeah, this week totally sucks.]

(ooc: wow like a million apologies for the lateness of this. If anyone has ICly acknowledged Elicia going home previously ~~since this is seriously like three weeks late~~ I apologize extra for that, but otherwise we’re assuming this week is a good time for it. RL business for all involved delayed things.)

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... thank you for letting us know.

[Honestly, if there was anyone that shouldn't have been dragged here in the first place it was that little girl. But you watch them grow and attend class and at the end of the day it's another face to no longer see. She had a safe home to belong to, when all those years here were all said and done. She'd have to do her growing the proper way.

Whether or not it lasted... well, there was no time for those kinds of thoughts. Bittersweet.]

Do you and Winry need anything?

[Well well well, if it isn't some random kid in the bar. Jack does so enjoy giving them a hard time. So as Ed sits down, Jack approaches in a bartenderly manner.]

I'm going to need to see some ID, kiddo.

Edited 2013-05-12 02:12 (UTC)

Has she? I'm going to miss her. She was a good kid. [Yet, he's honestly happy. No longer have to worry about her name showing up on the drafts.]

...No, we're fine.

[Which isn't entirely accurate, but it's probably obvious anyway, so he doesn't really care how fake that answer sounds. How he feels is really no one's business.]

Oh, I almost forgot- you're Raine, right? I think Elicia left some plants for you.

[He gets a caustic look for his trouble; he's really, really not in the mood.]

Like hell. This isn't a booze-only bar anyway.

She was. She is. It's good that she's safe.

[Ed's got no issue with her going back besides the fact that he and Winry will miss her; better that she's home with her mom than stuck here.]

Yeah, that's just what I was thinking too. Good to know she's safe and back with her mom too. I'm sure she was missing her.

[She knew she wasn't likely to get much of an answer, fake or otherwise, but it didn't hurt to ask, anyway.]

Hm? Yes, that's right... I was helping her with the garden. When would be a good time for me to stop by?

Do you need anything while I'm out?

[Winry returned her book today. Recently she has been in the house. A lot. However today she needed to be out. Away from the empty room and feeling empty house.]

Thanks. [At least the little girl would be returning to where she belonged, out of the Malnosso's reach. Elicia, the would-be superhero who had found him his prosthesis. He smiles faintly at the memory.]

...She was a good kid. Had a lot of spirit.

[He wishes she had seen her happier the times he had caught her, but Luceti isn't always the most welcoming of places with its Shifts and casual arrivals and disappearances of people to whom attachments could be formed all too easily.]

Sure, that's true. But you've got the face of someone sorely in need of some booze.

[For a moment there's the sound of dead air. Journal muted to mask the sound of bitter cursing. Again. So soon.

Everyone he's knows is leaving.

It's for the best, of course. He's grateful. He did his best with what Maes asked of him, to protect Gracia and Elicia, and today his duty ends.

Grudgingly grateful that is. She's back to being five. Back to growing up the way she's destined to be. And no longer the little girl he knew and the person she was becoming. He has to mourn what could have been. But maybe his little warrior will live on in her heart.]

Thank you. For telling me.

... I'll be by in a bit. Maybe ten minutes.

[ The first time he hears it, he feels numb. Elicia Hughes was sent home. Five words. Five simple words, and he's numb.

She was gone. The little light that had brought him out of the darkness so many times. The girl who always believed in him as a hero. Healed his wounds when he was too banged up to stay conscious. Patiently wrote him notes when he couldn't speak. Clung to him like her life depended on it when her mother was sent home. Fell asleep on his shoulder after she cried herself dry. And slowly, he can feel the emptiness start to creep into his heart.

Goddammit. He knew it was better this way. She never should have been here in the first place. But the emptiness pervades, and he finds himself at the door of her house before long. If she left things for him, he wanted them. He wanted anything she had to give.

He knocks. ]

[This was not what she expected to hear.

Ever.

How awful was that? That she hadn't thought Elicia of all people would ever go home - back to the mother she belonged with. The kid who really, really deserved a happier ending than this world would ever give her.]

Thanks. [She sounds like she swallowed lead.] I guess.

Today's fine, I don't think we'll be going anywhere. If you can't come today, try the afternoons. I'm usually here.

[Ouch, does he look that pathetic?]

I've never needed alcohol to deal with my problems in my life. Why would I need it now?

She definitely was. Elicia put up a strong front a lot, but she missed home as much as anyone else, if not more.

[The pitter-patter of little feet around the empty house? Which he can't stand to stay inside, either?]

...You want to meet up somewhere? I'd rather stay out tonight. Just for a few hours.

She is. And she'll be safe and happy back home where she belongs.

[He hates the idea of talking about someone in the past tense- she's alive and well, whether she's here or not. For someone who's known too many dead people this is important to him.]

Whenever you want.

[He's not expecting today to be a happy day. Honestly if Elicia hadn't left stuff for people he'd never have made the invitation to visit. He's not in the mood for mutual wound-licking here.

But this is what she'd have wanted, anyway- her friends gathering together to wish her well... right?]

[Whatever he wants, huh?

He doesn't respond to that aside from nodding. Instead there's a knock fifteen minutes later. Not far for him to go, being next door and all.]

[Edward answers the door after a minute, not exactly thrilled to be greeting people but also wanting to get this over with. Where once they might have bickered and snapped at each other, there's only a quiet grief on his part when he greets Tony, mumbling a "hey" and stepping aside, jerking his head to let the man in.]

I've got the stuff in the kitchen, come on in.

[Tense is noted.]

Right. [It's the most one can hope for.] ...You doing okay?

[He might not know Ed well, but Spencer had a sense from his conversations with Elicia that they had been like family. The question can evoke a wide range of emotions, but he decides in the end that asking is the right thing to do whether or not 'prying' would be welcome. Even if words weren't always helpful, some found it nice just to hear them.]

[He's not surprised that's the reaction he gets- he feels much the same himself.]

You're Sheena, right? She left a letter for you.

[Ed didn't expect it to take long, so he's at the door shortly afterwards, pointing inside with a thumb to lead him in.]

Come on. It's all inside.

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