[log] TAG TEAM [closed]

[armoured]

Characters: Alphonse Elric, Tadashi Hamada, Stephanie Brown, and Mami Tomoe
Location On the border of L10 and L11
Date: Day 10, Late Morning
Summary: Two sets of wanderers spot each other going in opposite directions and team up.
Warnings: None

[Despite it being comforting to have spent the night in a large group, this place was still too unexplored and the supplies were too lean to support them all continuing on together. So Al and Tadashi had splintered from the rest of the group and struck out eastwards.

Being in the company of a friend has done wonders for Al's mood, and his optimism has returned threefold. He doesn't realise that the afternoon and evening will bring tough conversations about death over the network, so for now he's still happy as he can be in this snowy wasteland.

He was amusing himself by trying to sneakily feed Mochi from the tube of toothpaste, when he spots two other figures coming out from the gloom in the opposite direction and slightly to the north.]

HELLO? HELLO OVER THERE!

[The young voice may be familiar, but the seven foot tall armour probably isn't.]

[OoC: This is a free for all for the four characters, it doesn't have to be kept to one thread.]

Comments

[armoured]

[He doesn't realise that she may have suddenly put more pieces of the puzzle together than he'd be comfortable with, he hasn't run into the wily ways of the blogger before.]

It seems pretty certain that they have, people remember their deaths, and... and there have been prices paid. Memories, eyesight...

[spoileralert]

We know that they're moved. We know that they lose consciousness. Freezing to death is like falling asleep, supposedly. So how would anyone know, if they were saved at the last moment?

[armoured]

[Part of him desperately wants to cling to that and accept it as truth, it would make this all infinitely more bearable, but he just can't believe it.]

M-Mm, maybe you're right. I hope so, anyway.

[spoileralert]

Oh, don't worry, there's loads of worse possibilities. [ She says it so cheerily, like she isn't grasping onto that one logical explanation for dear life. ]

We might all be really clever robots.

[ That's just the silliest of her theories. ]

[armoured]

[He can recognise that for the attempt at lightening the situation that it is, and so he doesn't take it as a slight against his giant metal robot-looking body. He chuckles, though it's a little strained.]

Speak for yourself, I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I was a robot. But... I get what you're saying.

[spoileralert]

[ She hopes he does, because she doesn't like him worrying over something so specific that may not even be true. Then again, she supposed she understands, given his experience in the matter. ]

At this point, anything is possible.

[armoured]

[What experience? He has no experience with these things! Everything is normal...]

I'm not sure that's very comforting.

[Anything is possible is where all these troubles are coming from.]

[spoileralert]

Nope. [ There's wry humor in her voice. No, it really isn't comforting at all. ]

[armoured]

Maybe it might work to our advantage one day?

[He does not sound convinced. Like, at all.]

[spoileralert]

Maybe this is just me, but when I die I want to wake up two days later. [ Because everyone dies eventually, though that's probably not the best phrasing just now. ]

[armoured]

[That... really isn't the best phrasing right now. Al comes to a total stop in shock, the lights of his eyes blazing.]

Don't say that! You don't understand what you're--

[This place is so dangerous, it's too full of people who don't grasp the consequences.]

[spoileralert]

[ She smiles with no real humor. ]

I've worked too hard on surviving to give it up.

[armoured]

Then keep working hard on surviving, and don't let yourself die.

[Al can fully support and pig headed stubborn refusal to die, but not a wish to revive.]

But nobody should be allowed to play with the rules of death.

[spoileralert]

[ Her expression turns dark with the memory of everything she's been through. Her father putting a gun to her head. The driveby at the phone booth. Becky. The man with bandages all over her face, the terrible and repeating knowledge that she was going to die, her parents didn't love her and everything she was doing was pointless and insane. ]

It happens all the time. Even Superman's come back from the dead.

[armoured]

Who's S--

[No, wait, not important. If revival is common in her world, that still doesn't explain the darkness in her expression, and Al can't help but reach out towards her to try and lay comforting hands on her shoulders.]

It doesn't matter, you have to learn to let people go. I know it's hard, and it hurts, and you miss... but it's better not to play with things like that.

[spoileralert]

[ Her shoulder tenses under his hand, but she doesn't throw him off. She's just so angry. ]

I've come too far to die here.

[armoured]

Then don't.

[He has the feeling they're having somehow separate arguments. He still wants to press the points on revival, but his affection for her is strong enough to make him derail and try and make her feel better.]

Keep fighting, and keep trying, and you'll get out of here. Not just that, but you have people to watch your back now too, you won't die here, so... don't be scared, okay?

[spoileralert]

[ She looks down at the ground, bites her lip, trying not to cry. God, Becky. Her best friend in the whole world, dead for such a stupid reason. ]

I don't want any of you guys dead either.

[armoured]

We won't die, I promise.

[It's a stupid promise to make, and Al will hate himself when he inevitably can't keep it, but he can't help himself.]

Dying here isn't an option, so I'll make sure we all get through this. I'll protect you all, and I'll get you home alive, even if I have to drag you all kicking and screaming.

[spoileralert]

[ She wipes furiously with a fist at the one tear that dared to leave her eye at the thought of losing more friends. She's lost so much lately - too much. ]

Good. You better.

[armoured]

[He can't help it, his grip on her shoulders increases a little in order to draw her into a hug. It's probably not comfortable against all that freezing metal, but his touch is oddly gentle.]

You can count on me.

[spoileralert]

[ She's surprised by the hug, but has enough fabric over her face and body that the cold doesn't sting too much. She hesitates a moment, then turns to press her forehead against the armor. It seems silly to hug someone with armor on. How would he even feel it? But the cold on her forehead cools hot eyes and makes her feel like maybe her eyes are wet because of the cold dry air, and not because she misses the life she used to have. ]

Yeah.

[ Her voice is quiet, but she can hear it echo against his armor and is sure that he can hear it too. ]

[armoured]

[He hears it, and he hopes that she doesn't hear the silence from within his armour now that she's so close. No creak of a body inside, no breathing, no heartbeat.]

Hey... look at me, we're going to get through this, so... no more tears.

[He hates to see her cry, to see anyone cry.]

[spoileralert]

[ When she looks up at him the tears have stopped, and there's something almost dead in her eyes - something learned in the three months she's been alone. ]

I'm okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry.

[armoured]

[That dead look scares him much more than the tears did, and he's not letting go just yet.]

Don't apologise. We're friends, worrying about each other is just part of the deal.