[network] DAY 23; @fullmetal; everyone come call him short [open]

[forfeits]

[ the past few days have been overly eventful for those he's traveling with, and with some downtime, he's at least able to catch his breath a moment. the video flickers on, showing nothing more than a red faced, rather flustered looking young man. ]

Okay, so let's get this straight.

[ unfortunately, the people of Norfinbury are about to get an earful from one Edward Elric. ] So I'm sure most of you know Al. Alphonse Elric. About a hundred feet tall, shiny and metal, he's really hard to miss.

[ seriously, how do you even miss a suit of freaking armor? ] That's my younger brother, do you hear me? Alphonse is my little brother. Got that? I'm the older one, I'm the rule maker, the elder, the wiser!

I. Am. Not. The. Little. Brother.

[ he takes big, heaping breaths between each word, his face only seeming to grow more flushed with each passing second, his voice rising near to the point of yelling. ] So if anyone of you calls me little, younger, small, tiny, pipsqueak, nosmallerthanacrumb one more time--!

[ he lets out a wail, a sort of frustrated cry that really does not work in his favor. only younger brothers cried like this, right? ]

That's all.

Comments

@greed

[ossifragant]

[...Yep, same old Ed.

He might have only had two short conversations with the kid here in this wasteland, but this is definitely the kid.]

You feeling okay, squirt?

[...He's not helping at all here.]

[forfeits]

[ ... well, if his eye wasn't twitching before, it is now. ]

Hey! Who're you calling squirt!?

[ and his voice really shouldn't reach that octave or that volume, but. ]

Video; ID: technicalities

[tadashiwashere]

Wow.

[And here's Tadashi, expression carefully neutral as his video feed cuts in. He's worried about Hiro and he isn't looking forward to his trek alone for the foreseeable future, but he knows he can't let his spirit be beaten down by this turn of events.

So, sadly, he needs to make an unfortunate comment.]

Those are some really... big words.

[forfeits]

[ ... after all that bonding Tadashi, and now this? Ed feels betrayed, especially by those in his team, and he frowns deeply, eye twitching as the anger only grows more insistent. ]

Yeah. They are. [ he speaks through gritted teeth. ] Funny, how height doesn't effect vocabulary. Or the strength of my fists either.

[ why can't people let his height be? ]

@TW; text;

[maskintape]

sssssssso how tall ARE you

[ Someone has to ask, okay ]

[forfeits]

tall ENOUGH.

[ because nope, the number is just embarrassing. ]

@newangle; video

[baymaxing]

You sure about that? I mean. Technically in comparison from what I gather.......

[Ed is the little brother. In terms of height at least, anyway. Is obviously what he means here, right?

Yes. Yes, Hiro is being a brat and trying to find some ways to kill time waiting for Tadashi. Sorry, Ed. This was just too fun not to poke at.]

[forfeits]

What are you trying to say, huh? Al is my little brother! My younger brother. I was born before him which makes me the big brother.

[ cue the heavy breathing. really, Hiro, way to push his buttons. ]

@JPHawkins, video

[rattlingthestars]

So calling you short's okay, then?

[ There may be a reason Jim has no friends back home. ]

[forfeits]

[ please excuse the growling sounds coming from the tablet. no, really, what does this kid think he's doing? ]

I. Am. NOT. SHORT.

[ he takes heaping breaths, and really if he could reach through the camera right now and grab this kid? oh he just might. ]

You hear me?! Who're you calling me some TINY, FLEA-LIKE SPECK OF DUST THAT CAN'T EVEN BE SEEN WITH A MAGNIFYING LENS?!

video; @ms.Detective

[demisse]

Ohhhhh you're Ed!

[ Well, she definitely sees the angry part. ]

[forfeits]

Don't you da--

[ really, he's too used to people responding with short jokes taht he nearly yells at her for merely speaking. ]

Yeah, I'm Ed. I don't think I know you. [ he's trying so hard to be polite right now okay? ]

{ video | @Lavellan }

[carrywithyou]

[ Well, Al told her his brother was here. But who could have expected such an outburst? It's amusing, to say the least. ]

Are the wise where you're from prone to such outbursts?

[forfeits]

You try being called short your whole life, called little and insignificant and no bigger than a mote of dust and you stay calm.

[ huff puff. really, he's great other than this one little sensitive trigger. ]

I'm perfectly wise.

Voice; ID: max

[feralone]

[Wow, kid. That's some outburst. Fortunately for Ed, Max may very well be one of the rare few who doesn't bother to comment on the actual subject of this post. For now./]

Did you find him?

[He knows the brothers have talked to each other on the network in the past, but did the Elric brothers actually find each other in person? Because that's a priority, you know.]

[forfeits]

Of course I found him!

[ he doesn't maen to sound angry or flail his arms around, either, but it happens and he seems to deflate after, especially when Max makes no joke of his own. ]

Er. Yeah, we found each other. I guess you didn't take him after all. Sorry about that.

action

[lancingintherain]

[it's impossible to not overhear all that shouting, with her hearing as sharp as it is and them being in the same house, so Freya heads down the hall to investigate. Her approach isn't very subtle: her claws click against the floor, and she's munching on a handful of very hard, slightly stale cat kibble, so Ed might realize she's there even before she leans against the doorway to look in on him.]

...Wouldn't that be, "no larger than a crumb"?

[she eats another piece of kibble, keeping a straight face with lots of effort.]

[forfeits]

[ and here he thought he was safely tucked away, in private, screaming at a piece of technology. really, couldn't a guy get any peace even in this group? he's ready to turn and regard her calmly, but her words finally sink in and his face goes a particularly impressive shade of scarlet. ]

Oh, I'm so sorry. I don't think I heard you right. What did you say? [ His words are chewed out between gritted teeth, overly polite and incredibly sweet, despite the anger that so clearly shows across his face. ]

video; @Chillinski

[figureitout]

[.................................. wow. Clearly this is why Al is so nice and sensible -- all the crazy went to the big brother.]

That was really convincing, dude, ten points for trying. Also, just in case: elder does not wiser make, you know that, right?

[But, hey, at least he's not contesting that point!]

[forfeits]

[ ... really? really? ]

I succeeded. I'm older, much older, and just because he's in some damn suit of armor doesn't make him the bigger one!

[ deep, heaving breaths. his blood pressure is likely through the roof. ] I'm perfectly wise. Wiser than Al, clearly, since he hasn't told anyone I was his big brother.

action;

[armoured]

[Wow.

Wow.

Al cannot believe that this is how Ed is making his first proper introduction to the wider network. Maybe he should have warned people about Ed being touchy over his size? Or perhaps kept a closer eye on what had been said before?

It's too late now.

He tramps over to his brother and puts a hand down over the tablet speakers.]

Brother! What are you doing? I bet nobody here has even noticed your size.

[Wait.]

Uh, I mean, uh... not that there's anything to notice.

[forfeits]

[ bad enough that his brother could have seen the broadcast, but even worse that he's here, in the room with him now, trying to block it. ]

H-Hey!

[ wait. Al, really? Even you? ]

W-what do you mean they wouldn't have noticed, Al? Are you trying to say that I'm so small they wouldn't notice me? Is that what you're saying?

[ there's the iconic fist trembling at his side, the twitch of an eye, the very stern how-dare-you-alphonse look that perhaps only Ed can pull of. ]

@LINK

[tapferkeit]

[ Link lets the anger wash over him. Hey, people get angry. He kind of wishes Saria's song had the same power it had back home. He'd played that for a furious Darunia and he'd just burst into dance. This guy sounded like he needed a dance, too.

But: ]

It must be nice to have family here.

[ Especially if your family was Al. Al was a good guy. Link really liked him, from the little he knew of him. ]

[forfeits]

[ well, he wants to be mad, but then someone mentions family. ]

O-oh. Yeah. Al's great. [ because he can't be totally angry when speaking about Al, even if he wants to be mad about the height jokes. ]

@SummerVacation

[desenchanter]

Is everyone always calling you short too?

[ He feels you, man. ]

[forfeits]

you have no idea.

[ man, at least someone here gets him. ]