Welcome to Ryslig's test drive meme! If you're considering apping here, this is where you can try your characters out in the game's setting. A few things to note:
You can only app ONE character per round so choose wisely.
We now have a Quick Game Facts that simplifies the basic information about the game. Good if you want to see what the game is at a glance!
Lots of people have asked good questions on the FAQ, so do take a look.
The reserve date has been announced (it was changed to the 30th to allow a maximum number of people compared to a Friday).
Test drive meme threads can be used for your roleplay sample!
NEW! Players with characters already in the game can earn up to a maximum of 3 coins by replying to potential character threads! You will need to have your normal 20 comment AC in the game. You cannot use this to go over the bonus 10 coins per month total, but you can use it if you are missing some threads to reach that coin total. Same rules as normal bonuses apply.
Sample scenarios:
SCENARIO ONE: So you've just arrived, fresh out of the hospital, and already the natives are trying to get on your good side. Offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all great pamphlets. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through.
Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others.
SCENARIO TWO: You've become hopelessly lost in Lager Woods. Paths don't seem to lead where you remember them leading, and you feel as if you're going around in circles. Childlike giggling can be heard from no direction in particular. Suddenly, you stumble upon another character, who seems to be just as lost as you! Perhaps you can find a way out together. Or maybe they want you for lunch...
SCENARIO THREE: You've heard about the fog, but you've never seen it before. Now, the mist surrounds you. Barely able to see before you, you need to get home - and fast. It's far too dangerous in this situation.
SCENARIO FOUR: The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? NOTE: Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.
[There are certain things about Edward Elric that no amount of travesty or trauma could stamp out, core parts of his self and identiy that simply would not die out. That stubborn streak that always shone thorugh, though now somewhat tempered by age and wisdom. Not that it changed much; only that he paused a few moments to judge how fast he needed to run to break thorugh the barriers before him. It bolstered him, kept him from backing away when others would have given up or turned tail. Really, he'd say it would be the death of him if he hadn't died once before already.]
["Not around", huh? Something about the way Greed says that catches his attention, and he files it way in his mind. Whether a reference to a death, a capture...it could simply mean that he didn't know and had never been told, but he won't take that for granted. Occam's Razor is useful, but not always correct.] It's less rural, I'll grant that. Do you have any idea what happened to Roy? [There's a big difference between 'got on the bad side of the locals' and 'just fell off the face of the earth'. ...well, in theory. The first presumably leaves a body behind, at least.] How often to people go missing like that?
["Equivalent Exchange"...Edward laughs and grins, not turning but still keeping his eyes on Greed as he stalks around him. His posture stays easy, relaxed. Confident in himself not fearing the fire that licks behind Greed's words.] Yeah, I'd call that a fair trade. A story for a story, I'll accept that. [Funny, that he found himself again being plied for information in the Devil's Nest. For a moment he wonders if that meeting went as disastrously in the other world as it did in his.] If I was in the military, I assume I must have tried to bring my mother back and gotten Al stuck in that armor in your world as well.
[Ed ponders for a moment, taking another generous sip as he thinks over where to start his story. Greed likely wouldn't be interested in the years chasing false leads and being Roy's errand boy, and Nina's story isn't one he feels up to retelling...] I was fifteen when Roy clued me into where Marcoh had been holed up. He was one of the alchemists that created the incomplete Stones used in Ishbal to end the war, ran off with the research from Labratory Five after he saw the destruction he'd helped bring. The Colonel had been covering for him, but apparently something had leaked since Scar nearly beat me to finding him. There was a bit of a scuffle, obviously, [He nearly died, his arm destroyed and Al nearly blown apart,] but Marcoh was able to give us enough of a hint to find Labratory Five. The place was still running, and that was the first time we ran into any of the homunculii.
[He grimaces as he remembers that whole mess.] It was Envy, Lust, and Gluttony. They captured Al, tried to get me to make the Stone for them there. It...I couldn't do it, not once I knew they had living humans and not just material needing to be refined. The whole place started coming down around our ears--we got out, and I found out later you broke out Martel and the rest of your crew before the military came swarming in to clean up what was left.
[The Sin swings back in front of the other, his body easing over the juts of his hips. He shoots a side glance, showing off that needle-prick gaze. Reptilian, raw and then it's gone again. As he skirts the iron frame of the bed like a shark in shallow waters.] The theory is that they go home. That is, if they aren't on the network anymore. Whether or not that's true, I couldn't really tell ya, kid. But it seems to be the most likely option. It doesn't happen to often, but I've had a few go missing since I've been here.
[Beatrice, Aoba, Peter - just a few he can count on one hand. Greed's fingers peel open, flicking wide claw after claw. The proverbial feline counting its inventory. While some of the changes have been dramatic, others hark to his original making. The black coating of scales trills up his arm in jagged, uneven rectangles - his claws are coiled and sharp. The pattern salutes back to that 'Shield of his. Reaching up, up, up. But unlike before, veins of lava froth under the surface. And on his left hand, they converge. Forming like a fresh-fire brand in an old, familiar design:]
[The Ouroboros. A tell of what he is, what he used to be. Constantly running to consume itself.]
That's right - least that much hasn't changed. Word traveled fast to Dublith after you and yours ran into that serial killer in Central. Scar, right? [The Sin chimes back in, his voice still as sultry-slick as always despite current circumstances. There were some similarities to their stories. Lab 5 still existed and while Greed had seen it only once or twice in his long-time running, he knows others that had been far more familiar. His would-be kin most obviously, his chimeras second. Greed turns his wrists as his walks, hovering the tips of his nails thoughtfully over the collection of things stockpiled in his room. He pauses when Ed continues his story, the length of his back exposing in a long, drawn-out shrug.]
I don't know if that happened where I'm from. Daddy sir had other plans in mind. [A venomous note rattles in his voice; similar to a python singing its finale to slowly-gasping prey. His hand jerks up wildly, illustrating his point.] Five sacrifices. He wanted to gain the power of God. Ha - !
[Another bark of laughter coughs from his gullet, mimicking a back-firing exhaust. He carefully pockets his hands, his skull tilting in the direction of a half-boarded window. Bits of still-burning cinders flutter through the cracks. Carried off in burly billow of smoke that quickly thins once the outside breeze catches. He lulls his head idly to his shoulder, calling up fur to frame and trace his jawline.]
I broke them out, that's true. But that was long before you came along. Eh- guess it doesn't matter, hmn? [A soft twinkle sounds off. As the tip of his tail comes dangerously-close to Ed, the barbed-charmed end rising up from the floor. It glides over the Alchemist's shoulders for a brief flick, a little inspection. Before it tosses gently, taking the momentum to sink back into the murky top-layer hovering across the floor.]
From what I've heard, the homunculi you know were a bit different too - me and mine were never human to begin with. [The Sin croons at nothing in particular as he reaches through parting smoke for the canter again. The tips of his claws wrap the neck one by one, lifting it with a shivering-shrill. It hangs between his knuckles, the smooth sides rubbing against one of his leather-clad thighs.]
That and I've died twice from where I'm from. And not the kind we usually come back from.
[While it's not the worst news he could hear, it's not the best either, and Ed nods with a grim frown. Of course there would be no way to know, not with some knowledge of how the transfer between worlds was accomplished here, but it's still disappointing. There was so little to go on, to figure out the mysteries of this place.]
[His eye is caught by the flicking of claws, the sparks that light and drift to the floor on invisible currents of air. The glow on the back of Greed's hand is both alien and entirely familiar, and Ed is honestly surprised how much confort he takes in it. After being alone for so long in a strange world, one that thought his past was nothing more than an overactive imagination at best and insanity at worse, it was reassuring to speak with someone that acknowledged his memories as real. Sure, the source wasn't ideal, but he wasn't about to shove his head into that horse's mouth.]
Yeah, that's him. You and yours leapt onto me and Al pretty quick once we were in Dublith. The military returned the favor, unfortunately, but I wasn't directly involved in any of that. [Honestly, Ed had started to become very disillusioned with his government at that point. The list of people we was willing to trust had dwindled very quickly to barely enough to fit on two hands, and he hadn't exactly had many close friends in the first place.]
[With Greed's second response, he nearly chokes taking a sip of his scotch. There's a few seconds of coughing and sputtering before he actually finds his voice again.] The power of--he wanted to control the Gate?! [That was--insane! Ludicrous! The thing was a force of nature, it would have laughed off anyone dumb enough to try a stunt like that! And 'five sacrifices'--there's obviously more to this plan, but it's still crazy! Even five Stones wouldn't be enough to buy that sort of power from the thing!] What the hell was he on that he thought he could pull that off?
Not int he long run, I suppose-- [Edward goes still at the sound of the faint chime, watching Greed's tail coil around his shoulders with a combined sense of concern and fascination. He's not quite sure what to make of the gesture but it sends a faint shiver down his back regardless, a feeling he can't quite place squeezing his chest before the black-and-silver whip drifts back down to the floor.]
[Ed swallows and shakes his head to clear the odd thoughts before he replies to the rest.] So you were created to be entirely yourselves... [It explained the differences, certainly, though it made the resemblance more confusing. It wasn't perfect--he remembered the Greed of his world being taller, for one--but still enough to make him wonder what link there was to leave the similarities there were.] Twice? So when you die for good there's still something to--to be salvaged? [He hates having to put it that way, but there isn't really a kind way to put it when you get right down to it.]
Sort of, but then again - I've always considered myself a bit different than the rest. [The glass container sways in his knuckles like a pendulum on the back swing and just as coppery. Scotch sloshes, trapped inside for the time being. It can only protest in shallow ploops and pops; as Greed's lumbering movements take liquor for a crash-course against the smooth, clear inside curve.]
[As he walks, burning prints sizzle behind him. The dim of smoke now finally dwindling, they're easier to see. They form in the same shape as the back of his heels and boiling rubber leaves behind bubbly, ashy remnants branded hard into the wood floor. Like setting tar on a hot summer day. Despite that, the structure of his signature pair still holds. Wafting in a low-set, shimmering mirage.]
[He chases a grin over his shoulder once he's swept the room a second time, eyeing the Alchemist through the crisp white fur at his collar. And if his eyes are trailing, if there's inspection there?]
[It's merely only that of stagnant interest. Connecting where the dots remain similar and when others spin off in another direction entirely. Same image, same Edward Elric; just with some added or missing details.] Ha - ! You really never were very subtle. [The former homunculus slips back into conversation as easily as a piranha momentarily knocked from a feeding frenzy. Out on moment, back into the fray the next. He steals from the bottle again and scotch catches in his throat. Turning a gassy, feverish blue that's both ghostly and foreign. Orange banks to the call not too soon later and the colors fight for dominance under the thin later of sooty skin. Then it's gone again and the Sin shoves his wrist across his mouth, crudely cleaning his lip clean.] Ah- now, that really depends. It takes a lot more than usual to kill us - I'm sure the same was for yours, that right?
[The charm on the bottle squeals when Greed tosses it back onto the dresser. The chain holding it together does a ring-a-round the neck, spinning for a few short beats. But a quick-dart fling of a claw stops it, the movement fast and on target. And metal twirls around the curve of his finger, slipping across it like liquidized gold.] He knew how to make it quick and how to make sure it wasn't entirely a waste. Purification - [He bends towards the bottle and the reflection back is nothing more than a glowing smog of smoke. Until his lips pull wide and a sheen of dagger-sharp white moves aimlessly across the surface. Intangible, but still there; a muddled mix between the rounded, formed canter.] - didn't last as long as he wanted it to, though.
A Philosopher's stone - [The tips of his claws skate a retreat and he motions to his chest. Half tilted away from the Alchemist, yet still very much in view - he runs his nails across his sternum, drawing lines back a little lower to where a human heart would be. Locked behind a cage of ribs and oh, isn't it just avarice to keep something so precious so well hidden.] - not that it matters now, but each one of us had one. If you could purify it without using all the souls up, it's possible we can be salvaged.
[He pauses, rolling the fork of his tongue against the back of his teeth.] Of course, none of the others really had the chance.
[It's hard not to notice what the thinning smoke reveals on the floor, and Ed makes a doubletake whe he sees the marks left and connects the impossibility of it. It's strange and uncanny, makes no sense at all. But there's no time at the moment to address the damaged floor, or wonder just how Greed hasn't burned this place down yet just by existing. The supernatural wonders of this peninsula just don't ever stop, do they? Edward's eyes flick back up to Greed's and he quickly hides his shock, taking a much longer sip of his drink this time.]
[Greed had damned well better be sharing more than just a glass of this stuff, he is gonna need it.]
Never saw much of a point to being subtle. [He notes the examination, the interest, but given that he's paying just as much attention to Greed himself he doesn't complain. They're both curious, both wanting to know more about the other, the differences from the version they know. Already Edward has a far longer list of differences than simiarities, but given the wildly different origins that's not particularly surprising.] Yeah. You could burn through all their Stones if you were suicidal, but Dante knew an array that could force them out. Me and my bastard of a father are probably the only two left that know it.
[Edward's eyebrows lift higher and higher as Greed explains, and he lets out a low whistle between his teeth. Damn, but that's fucked up.] I can't imagine you were happy once you got those memories back. Hope you gave him hell. [He shakes his head, draining the rest of the glass in a quick gulp and grimace.] I never got a chance to look at her notes or anything, but I know Dante was able to do something a bit more...extreme. She just took everything except the hunger out of Gluttony, left him basically mindless.
[He cocks his head and raises an eyebrow with a faint smirk.] In case it isn't obvious, she was the one playing puppeteer in my world. Her plans were a bit more modest than this 'Father' of yours, though. [He has a feeling Greed would approve of her end goal, at least. Crazy bastard.]
[He plugs the canter again, forcing the rounded stopper in with a shove of a heel and a twist. It spins, clicks then stops - in a short grind of singing glass and sloshing liquor. Greed inspects it with a curious claw, shining his red-purple glance to the contents before slipping back to Ed again. He offers it in close proximity, the butt-end of the container swinging against the Alchemist's chest.] No, not really much of a point. After all, I've never been one to hold back either. [The tips of his fingers leave and a knowing kind of smile passes from him to the other. As if he's examining the fine print, as if both of them know exactly what it says:]
[It doesn't matter where they come from, what they've seen. The words are the same:]
["We have history, don't we."]
[Greed chases a grin towards the closed door, a slight whistle churning at the tips of his teeth. To have one stone was normal, to have multiple - ] Oh-? Sounds like she wasn't exactly very friendly. From what I know, that Dad of yours knew plenty. But he wasn't working against you where I'm from. [It's an educated guess; the way the other talks with venom waiting on his tongue. Greed sways at Ed's side, cross-stepping over the sways of his boots as he tilts, twists and churns. He moves like a viper; rolling his torso, his spine. The folded wings at his back peel away, rising up and above them like a leathery umbrella complete with red-hot veins and trembling ash.]
[When Ed continues, the Sin's smile tightens for just a second. Giving them hell - ] No, I can't deny that. Though the little pissant Prince took advantage after. Not that it did much good. [Vague, but enough to get his point across. There are some roads he's not interested in traveling and this? Well, it's just one of those forks. He'd rather take the other option.] Sounds like they were similar, but not quite the same. Good ol'Daddy sir couldn't do something like that.
[The jagged hooks at the top of his wings skitter across the ceiling, drawing more lines into already-peeling paint. Small scars burn in pitches of charcoal, sketched out in warm lines that quickly cool with the late-night breeze.] So - do you plan on staying here? It's the same deal as before - you'd be working for me, but I'm not about to deny you. And I'm sure you already know how this works, hmn?
[Ed blinks and looks down in surprise when Greed presses the bottle to his chest, one hand wrapping around the bottle automatically. He's surprised, at first, but it fades when his eyes flicker back up. Ed can read that look easily, without even thinking. It's met with a nod and smile of his own, a silent understanding. Even with the details muddled, they can read between eachother's lines, know what isn't being said.]
[Smaller ones, admittedly. False stones, really, incomplete and unrefined. But they were still Stones, and fueled the homunculii's abilities just the same. Ed snorts as he moves to pour another glass, stepping over to a small table to set the glass down onto.] Oh, hardly. And the old man wasn't really working against us, either, but he didn't help all that much. [Probably out of muddled guilt for past sins, if Edward is honest with himself. Doesn't stop him from being bitter about it, though.] I got the feeling she hadn't ever done it before, the way Envy reacted. Only time I ever saw the bastard scared of something.
[He should be on edge from Greed's posturing, the way he moves around him like a hungry shark closing in on a wounded seal. Any normal person would have found some excuse and fled the room before they were eaten alive, but the thought doesn't even occur to Ed. It's shady and threatening, sure, but he doesn't feel trapped. The wings stretching around him, the pulsing so-faint glow and smell of burning, it just earns an easy grin as he watches Greed's constant flow of movement. For all the oddities, it's not that hard to understand what Greed is about.] Seems like that's the theme with us, huh? Just similar enough we can get the idea, but the rest... [He makes a vague gesture as he pours out another serving, golden liquid spilling and swirling around itself.]
[The offer makes him pause, glance over to Greed with a contemplative look. Certainly he'd come into the Nest with the idea of signing on, but actually going through with it...that was another story. He knew what it meant for him, the kind of road he would be going down. Greed is good people, but he isn't nice by any stretch of the imagination. Ed isn't stupid, though--he'd be safe here, especially once the changes he's been dreading start setting in. And he knows Greed--moreover, Greed knows Edward. He knows the world he's from, and that is something that Ed has been starved for the past year and a half.] I was thinking about it. You sure you won't regret taking me on?
[It's no secret that there's bad blood between him and the rest. And while Envy isn't the top of his list, he's a close second. Greed's lips pull back with a ferocious kind of sneer - one similar to the same Great White on Ed's mind. Ready under the surface and about to let loose on an unsuspecting seal. His claws circle the small of his torso, anchoring into his hip bones in small scratches that bring a whine from both the leather of his slacks and the mesh shirt hugging his skin like a glove.] Envy, huh. That doesn't surprise me - ugly's always been predictable. But he's the same cobbled-together mess as always.
[The venom in his words rides on thick trails of smoke and steam. Behind him, in a smog of silt, the bend of his tail rises again. Waving back and forth, a pendulum of hard spikes and steel. The corners of the Sin's eyes twitch with a sort of tenseness. As if he means to pounce, as if he could set his teeth right in and oh, isn't it just the big, bad wolf that's strolled into town.]
[But the Alchemist knows, he knows: the look is saved for someone else entirely.]
[The former homunculus tosses one hand out wildly, the ravenous expression cast aside. The bands on his wrist twist and chime; throwing and spinning across the smooth-plated skin of his forearm.] Seems like it. There's a few things I still don't know much about. Kimbley for instance - [Though that seems to be a moot point. What happened to that particular time bomb and his other self: it isn't his story and truth be told, he doesn't entirely care. As long as the destructive-prone Alchemist doesn't try anything, it's water under a bridge Greed's never had the luxury of crossing.]
[The thought passes, though. And a wild look of surprise makes the Sin rise. As if jolted, his mouth hangs open with a held out: "Ah-?". Before his torso all but snaps over his spine and those wings of his explode outwards with his laughter. His head tosses over the fur at his collar and the billow of his baritone once again rattles the walls. Shakes the floor. Then he's back again with jarring quickness, the span of his wings enclosing over Ed like hellish arms coming on to smother. He curls in on the Alchemist, leering far too close for comfort.] Regret taking you on? Usually that's my line kid - working for me means you wouldn't belong to the normal world anymore. No regrets - [The curve of his horns come so close to Ed's own forward that they almost touch. They're a hair-length away, heavy-set coils packed to the brim with hell fire. And from behind his sunglasses, his eyes are watching. Eerily still, like the hollow sockets of a corpse.]
- and you'd be one of mine. So I'll ask again - are you in or not?
He had a one track mind, that's for fucking certain. [Edward resists the urge to correct Greed--even hating the man as he does, he wouldn't call anything his father created 'cobbled-together'--instead taking a very, very private comfort in Greed's reaction and hiding his relieved look behind a fresh swig of the whiskey. He has no intention of telling Greed about what Envy did to him, the blood they share. That's too personal, too close to wounds that still haven't healed. But it looks like he won't need to bother with that should the bastard ever show his face around here.]
[Not that he would be hiding behind the sin or anything, but having backup for a fight never hurt anyone.]
[A frown pulls at his mouth again when Greed mentions Kimbley, eyes narrowing in a smoldering fury held beneath the surface.] I don't know as much about his history with you, only that he went running off to the military as soon as he had the chance. [And the small matter of him turning Alphonse into a ticking time bomb, but this version doesn't seem to have done that yet. Besides, that's not something Greed would necessarily be concerned with, and so long as his little brother doesn't show up it will have to remain a non-issue.]
[When Greed straightens up, for a moment Ed wonders if he said the wrong thing. And then the bellowing laugh, the shaking timber above raining old soot and ashes on their heads shakes any other thought out of his head. Edward's spine snaps ramrod straight when the demon closes back in, all fire and claws and raw intimidation that sets every one of the alarms in his head blaring. But he doesn't back off, staring right back into that burning gaze and baring his teeth in a fierce grin even as beads of sweat roll down his head from the oven-like heat. His pulse beats a swift tempo in his ears, and a few hairs singe away as they brush against the horns that threaten to blister Ed's forehead.]
I haven't belonged to any world in a damn long time. Yeah, I'll take your deal, Greed.
[The news about Kimbley isn't at all surprising; he's been dog-tailing his boy-in-blue for however long they've been here. Archer - the name doesn't ring any bells and the Sin doesn't expect it ever truly will. Another piece of the puzzle that doesn't belong to his metaphorical box. His eyelids fall heavy behind his sunglasses, causing slivers of red to cut through his sunglasses. Movement flickers slowly behind them, running like the receding tail-lights of a crawling vehicle. He's watching the sweat roll away. As beads of it tremble up from Ed's skin - like water shook to the surface by some force.]
[As expected, the Alchemist doesn't back down. Not even when instinct makes his spine taut like a wire. The Sin pockets one hand and the other shoots out at an index. He taps his company's shoulder with a terrible grin, amusement laced under fire.] Ha - ! Fine then, just remember -
[He backs away then and a good breeze runs in swiftly. Extending itself across the Alchemist like someone shoving between, spreading themselves to protect the other against another onslaught. Greed's arm falls slack back to his side, the murky thick of his own after-burn now nothing more than dim twinkles of dust. He slaps his foot down as an afterthought and the tail behind him cracks with an interest.] - you'd be working for me. [As he talks, his tail relaxes and the arrow-tipped point sinks into a dresser, pulling out one of the drawers. He doesn't need to see it to know it's there - a key ring. And while it's lost some weight since he first started, there's still pieces of iron left dangling on the line. The end of his tail slips through the circlet of metal, bringing it up and out of the proverbial abyss in a harmony of soft, haunting chimes.]
[He immediately deposits it in the open stretch of his hand.] Yours is down the hall. [The Sin replies and his thumb nail presses into the ring, popping out one solid key. It's a bit smaller than the rest, its teeth crooked and flaked-over in rust damage. Pockets of gnarled metal drill themselves into the base, making it look particularly old. He tosses it to Ed.] I'm sure I don't have to explain how the rest of this works, do I?
[The rush of cool air where there had just seconds ago been a sweltering heat left Edward light-headed for a moment. He blinks twice and breathes out a long, slow breath he hadn't even realize he'd held--well, he'd certainly stuck his foot in it now, hadn't he? Ed hadn't lied about regretting this choice, but this road wasn't going to be a nice one. Entertaining, probably, but not nice.]
[His eyes stay locked with the sin's own for several moments before he remembers the glass still in his hand. With another sigh he knocks it back, draining the half-filled glass with a grimace before setting it back down. The bottle he keeps hold of, carefully stoppered back up for later and held close to the chest. His eyes follow Greed's movements, note the keyring with interest.]
Even if I didn't, you wouldn't let me forget, would you? [No, he knows who has the proverbial leash on his new collar, who it is he answers to now. Oddly it doesn't chafe as much as the old, not yet, but then the bargain has only just been struck. There's still plenty of time for the friction to build. No sense in inviting any of it sooner than needed.]
[When the key is tossed his way he snatches it out of the air easily, and he looks it over for a moment while Greed talks. Old, broken, but still useable...there should be a joke about fitting locks here, but he can't think of it. Gold eyes flick back up, and Ed smirks as he pockets the key.] Nah, I think I got it from here.
[He turns and heads back to the door, taking that as a dismissal for the moment. He pauses before opening it though, looking at the demon with an honest, real smile.] Thanks.
Probably not - [Greed's turning away from the other as he talks, hands shoved deep into his pockets. His clawed thumbs hang out, grazing the leather trapping his thigh. He ticks his head to the side, his eyes already shut by the time Ed's heading for the door. A creep of yellow light slices into his abode, cutting in like a sliver of glass.]
Don't mention it, kid. [It's almost sincere, almost - well. Greed shoots a hand above his head, knocking his wrist off at a slant. It's a quick wave, two of his fingers tucked together like someone making a crude gesture of a firearm. Then the kid's off.]
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graveyardsmash2015-05-23 05:28 pm
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["Not around", huh? Something about the way Greed says that catches his attention, and he files it way in his mind. Whether a reference to a death, a capture...it could simply mean that he didn't know and had never been told, but he won't take that for granted. Occam's Razor is useful, but not always correct.] It's less rural, I'll grant that. Do you have any idea what happened to Roy? [There's a big difference between 'got on the bad side of the locals' and 'just fell off the face of the earth'. ...well, in theory. The first presumably leaves a body behind, at least.] How often to people go missing like that?
["Equivalent Exchange"...Edward laughs and grins, not turning but still keeping his eyes on Greed as he stalks around him. His posture stays easy, relaxed. Confident in himself not fearing the fire that licks behind Greed's words.] Yeah, I'd call that a fair trade. A story for a story, I'll accept that. [Funny, that he found himself again being plied for information in the Devil's Nest. For a moment he wonders if that meeting went as disastrously in the other world as it did in his.] If I was in the military, I assume I must have tried to bring my mother back and gotten Al stuck in that armor in your world as well.
[Ed ponders for a moment, taking another generous sip as he thinks over where to start his story. Greed likely wouldn't be interested in the years chasing false leads and being Roy's errand boy, and Nina's story isn't one he feels up to retelling...] I was fifteen when Roy clued me into where Marcoh had been holed up. He was one of the alchemists that created the incomplete Stones used in Ishbal to end the war, ran off with the research from Labratory Five after he saw the destruction he'd helped bring. The Colonel had been covering for him, but apparently something had leaked since Scar nearly beat me to finding him. There was a bit of a scuffle, obviously, [He nearly died, his arm destroyed and Al nearly blown apart,] but Marcoh was able to give us enough of a hint to find Labratory Five. The place was still running, and that was the first time we ran into any of the homunculii.
[He grimaces as he remembers that whole mess.] It was Envy, Lust, and Gluttony. They captured Al, tried to get me to make the Stone for them there. It...I couldn't do it, not once I knew they had living humans and not just material needing to be refined. The whole place started coming down around our ears--we got out, and I found out later you broke out Martel and the rest of your crew before the military came swarming in to clean up what was left.
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[Beatrice, Aoba, Peter - just a few he can count on one hand. Greed's fingers peel open, flicking wide claw after claw. The proverbial feline counting its inventory. While some of the changes have been dramatic, others hark to his original making. The black coating of scales trills up his arm in jagged, uneven rectangles - his claws are coiled and sharp. The pattern salutes back to that 'Shield of his. Reaching up, up, up. But unlike before, veins of lava froth under the surface. And on his left hand, they converge. Forming like a fresh-fire brand in an old, familiar design:]
[The Ouroboros. A tell of what he is, what he used to be. Constantly running to consume itself.]
That's right - least that much hasn't changed. Word traveled fast to Dublith after you and yours ran into that serial killer in Central. Scar, right? [The Sin chimes back in, his voice still as sultry-slick as always despite current circumstances. There were some similarities to their stories. Lab 5 still existed and while Greed had seen it only once or twice in his long-time running, he knows others that had been far more familiar. His would-be kin most obviously, his chimeras second. Greed turns his wrists as his walks, hovering the tips of his nails thoughtfully over the collection of things stockpiled in his room. He pauses when Ed continues his story, the length of his back exposing in a long, drawn-out shrug.]
I don't know if that happened where I'm from. Daddy sir had other plans in mind. [A venomous note rattles in his voice; similar to a python singing its finale to slowly-gasping prey. His hand jerks up wildly, illustrating his point.] Five sacrifices. He wanted to gain the power of God. Ha - !
[Another bark of laughter coughs from his gullet, mimicking a back-firing exhaust. He carefully pockets his hands, his skull tilting in the direction of a half-boarded window. Bits of still-burning cinders flutter through the cracks. Carried off in burly billow of smoke that quickly thins once the outside breeze catches. He lulls his head idly to his shoulder, calling up fur to frame and trace his jawline.]
I broke them out, that's true. But that was long before you came along. Eh- guess it doesn't matter, hmn? [A soft twinkle sounds off. As the tip of his tail comes dangerously-close to Ed, the barbed-charmed end rising up from the floor. It glides over the Alchemist's shoulders for a brief flick, a little inspection. Before it tosses gently, taking the momentum to sink back into the murky top-layer hovering across the floor.]
From what I've heard, the homunculi you know were a bit different too - me and mine were never human to begin with. [The Sin croons at nothing in particular as he reaches through parting smoke for the canter again. The tips of his claws wrap the neck one by one, lifting it with a shivering-shrill. It hangs between his knuckles, the smooth sides rubbing against one of his leather-clad thighs.]
That and I've died twice from where I'm from. And not the kind we usually come back from.
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[His eye is caught by the flicking of claws, the sparks that light and drift to the floor on invisible currents of air. The glow on the back of Greed's hand is both alien and entirely familiar, and Ed is honestly surprised how much confort he takes in it. After being alone for so long in a strange world, one that thought his past was nothing more than an overactive imagination at best and insanity at worse, it was reassuring to speak with someone that acknowledged his memories as real. Sure, the source wasn't ideal, but he wasn't about to shove his head into that horse's mouth.]
Yeah, that's him. You and yours leapt onto me and Al pretty quick once we were in Dublith. The military returned the favor, unfortunately, but I wasn't directly involved in any of that. [Honestly, Ed had started to become very disillusioned with his government at that point. The list of people we was willing to trust had dwindled very quickly to barely enough to fit on two hands, and he hadn't exactly had many close friends in the first place.]
[With Greed's second response, he nearly chokes taking a sip of his scotch. There's a few seconds of coughing and sputtering before he actually finds his voice again.] The power of--he wanted to control the Gate?! [That was--insane! Ludicrous! The thing was a force of nature, it would have laughed off anyone dumb enough to try a stunt like that! And 'five sacrifices'--there's obviously more to this plan, but it's still crazy! Even five Stones wouldn't be enough to buy that sort of power from the thing!] What the hell was he on that he thought he could pull that off?
Not int he long run, I suppose-- [Edward goes still at the sound of the faint chime, watching Greed's tail coil around his shoulders with a combined sense of concern and fascination. He's not quite sure what to make of the gesture but it sends a faint shiver down his back regardless, a feeling he can't quite place squeezing his chest before the black-and-silver whip drifts back down to the floor.]
[Ed swallows and shakes his head to clear the odd thoughts before he replies to the rest.] So you were created to be entirely yourselves... [It explained the differences, certainly, though it made the resemblance more confusing. It wasn't perfect--he remembered the Greed of his world being taller, for one--but still enough to make him wonder what link there was to leave the similarities there were.] Twice? So when you die for good there's still something to--to be salvaged? [He hates having to put it that way, but there isn't really a kind way to put it when you get right down to it.]
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[As he walks, burning prints sizzle behind him. The dim of smoke now finally dwindling, they're easier to see. They form in the same shape as the back of his heels and boiling rubber leaves behind bubbly, ashy remnants branded hard into the wood floor. Like setting tar on a hot summer day. Despite that, the structure of his signature pair still holds. Wafting in a low-set, shimmering mirage.]
[He chases a grin over his shoulder once he's swept the room a second time, eyeing the Alchemist through the crisp white fur at his collar. And if his eyes are trailing, if there's inspection there?]
[It's merely only that of stagnant interest. Connecting where the dots remain similar and when others spin off in another direction entirely. Same image, same Edward Elric; just with some added or missing details.] Ha - ! You really never were very subtle. [The former homunculus slips back into conversation as easily as a piranha momentarily knocked from a feeding frenzy. Out on moment, back into the fray the next. He steals from the bottle again and scotch catches in his throat. Turning a gassy, feverish blue that's both ghostly and foreign. Orange banks to the call not too soon later and the colors fight for dominance under the thin later of sooty skin. Then it's gone again and the Sin shoves his wrist across his mouth, crudely cleaning his lip clean.] Ah- now, that really depends. It takes a lot more than usual to kill us - I'm sure the same was for yours, that right?
[The charm on the bottle squeals when Greed tosses it back onto the dresser. The chain holding it together does a ring-a-round the neck, spinning for a few short beats. But a quick-dart fling of a claw stops it, the movement fast and on target. And metal twirls around the curve of his finger, slipping across it like liquidized gold.] He knew how to make it quick and how to make sure it wasn't entirely a waste. Purification - [He bends towards the bottle and the reflection back is nothing more than a glowing smog of smoke. Until his lips pull wide and a sheen of dagger-sharp white moves aimlessly across the surface. Intangible, but still there; a muddled mix between the rounded, formed canter.] - didn't last as long as he wanted it to, though.
A Philosopher's stone - [The tips of his claws skate a retreat and he motions to his chest. Half tilted away from the Alchemist, yet still very much in view - he runs his nails across his sternum, drawing lines back a little lower to where a human heart would be. Locked behind a cage of ribs and oh, isn't it just avarice to keep something so precious so well hidden.] - not that it matters now, but each one of us had one. If you could purify it without using all the souls up, it's possible we can be salvaged.
[He pauses, rolling the fork of his tongue against the back of his teeth.] Of course, none of the others really had the chance.
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[Greed had damned well better be sharing more than just a glass of this stuff, he is gonna need it.]
Never saw much of a point to being subtle. [He notes the examination, the interest, but given that he's paying just as much attention to Greed himself he doesn't complain. They're both curious, both wanting to know more about the other, the differences from the version they know. Already Edward has a far longer list of differences than simiarities, but given the wildly different origins that's not particularly surprising.] Yeah. You could burn through all their Stones if you were suicidal, but Dante knew an array that could force them out. Me and my bastard of a father are probably the only two left that know it.
[Edward's eyebrows lift higher and higher as Greed explains, and he lets out a low whistle between his teeth. Damn, but that's fucked up.] I can't imagine you were happy once you got those memories back. Hope you gave him hell. [He shakes his head, draining the rest of the glass in a quick gulp and grimace.] I never got a chance to look at her notes or anything, but I know Dante was able to do something a bit more...extreme. She just took everything except the hunger out of Gluttony, left him basically mindless.
[He cocks his head and raises an eyebrow with a faint smirk.] In case it isn't obvious, she was the one playing puppeteer in my world. Her plans were a bit more modest than this 'Father' of yours, though. [He has a feeling Greed would approve of her end goal, at least. Crazy bastard.]
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[It doesn't matter where they come from, what they've seen. The words are the same:]
["We have history, don't we."]
[Greed chases a grin towards the closed door, a slight whistle churning at the tips of his teeth. To have one stone was normal, to have multiple - ] Oh-? Sounds like she wasn't exactly very friendly. From what I know, that Dad of yours knew plenty. But he wasn't working against you where I'm from. [It's an educated guess; the way the other talks with venom waiting on his tongue. Greed sways at Ed's side, cross-stepping over the sways of his boots as he tilts, twists and churns. He moves like a viper; rolling his torso, his spine. The folded wings at his back peel away, rising up and above them like a leathery umbrella complete with red-hot veins and trembling ash.]
[When Ed continues, the Sin's smile tightens for just a second. Giving them hell - ] No, I can't deny that. Though the little pissant Prince took advantage after. Not that it did much good. [Vague, but enough to get his point across. There are some roads he's not interested in traveling and this? Well, it's just one of those forks. He'd rather take the other option.] Sounds like they were similar, but not quite the same. Good ol'Daddy sir couldn't do something like that.
[The jagged hooks at the top of his wings skitter across the ceiling, drawing more lines into already-peeling paint. Small scars burn in pitches of charcoal, sketched out in warm lines that quickly cool with the late-night breeze.] So - do you plan on staying here? It's the same deal as before - you'd be working for me, but I'm not about to deny you. And I'm sure you already know how this works, hmn?
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[Smaller ones, admittedly. False stones, really, incomplete and unrefined. But they were still Stones, and fueled the homunculii's abilities just the same. Ed snorts as he moves to pour another glass, stepping over to a small table to set the glass down onto.] Oh, hardly. And the old man wasn't really working against us, either, but he didn't help all that much. [Probably out of muddled guilt for past sins, if Edward is honest with himself. Doesn't stop him from being bitter about it, though.] I got the feeling she hadn't ever done it before, the way Envy reacted. Only time I ever saw the bastard scared of something.
[He should be on edge from Greed's posturing, the way he moves around him like a hungry shark closing in on a wounded seal. Any normal person would have found some excuse and fled the room before they were eaten alive, but the thought doesn't even occur to Ed. It's shady and threatening, sure, but he doesn't feel trapped. The wings stretching around him, the pulsing so-faint glow and smell of burning, it just earns an easy grin as he watches Greed's constant flow of movement. For all the oddities, it's not that hard to understand what Greed is about.] Seems like that's the theme with us, huh? Just similar enough we can get the idea, but the rest... [He makes a vague gesture as he pours out another serving, golden liquid spilling and swirling around itself.]
[The offer makes him pause, glance over to Greed with a contemplative look. Certainly he'd come into the Nest with the idea of signing on, but actually going through with it...that was another story. He knew what it meant for him, the kind of road he would be going down. Greed is good people, but he isn't nice by any stretch of the imagination. Ed isn't stupid, though--he'd be safe here, especially once the changes he's been dreading start setting in. And he knows Greed--moreover, Greed knows Edward. He knows the world he's from, and that is something that Ed has been starved for the past year and a half.] I was thinking about it. You sure you won't regret taking me on?
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[The venom in his words rides on thick trails of smoke and steam. Behind him, in a smog of silt, the bend of his tail rises again. Waving back and forth, a pendulum of hard spikes and steel. The corners of the Sin's eyes twitch with a sort of tenseness. As if he means to pounce, as if he could set his teeth right in and oh, isn't it just the big, bad wolf that's strolled into town.]
[But the Alchemist knows, he knows: the look is saved for someone else entirely.]
[The former homunculus tosses one hand out wildly, the ravenous expression cast aside. The bands on his wrist twist and chime; throwing and spinning across the smooth-plated skin of his forearm.] Seems like it. There's a few things I still don't know much about. Kimbley for instance - [Though that seems to be a moot point. What happened to that particular time bomb and his other self: it isn't his story and truth be told, he doesn't entirely care. As long as the destructive-prone Alchemist doesn't try anything, it's water under a bridge Greed's never had the luxury of crossing.]
[The thought passes, though. And a wild look of surprise makes the Sin rise. As if jolted, his mouth hangs open with a held out: "Ah-?". Before his torso all but snaps over his spine and those wings of his explode outwards with his laughter. His head tosses over the fur at his collar and the billow of his baritone once again rattles the walls. Shakes the floor. Then he's back again with jarring quickness, the span of his wings enclosing over Ed like hellish arms coming on to smother. He curls in on the Alchemist, leering far too close for comfort.] Regret taking you on? Usually that's my line kid - working for me means you wouldn't belong to the normal world anymore. No regrets - [The curve of his horns come so close to Ed's own forward that they almost touch. They're a hair-length away, heavy-set coils packed to the brim with hell fire. And from behind his sunglasses, his eyes are watching. Eerily still, like the hollow sockets of a corpse.]
- and you'd be one of mine. So I'll ask again - are you in or not?
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[Not that he would be hiding behind the sin or anything, but having backup for a fight never hurt anyone.]
[A frown pulls at his mouth again when Greed mentions Kimbley, eyes narrowing in a smoldering fury held beneath the surface.] I don't know as much about his history with you, only that he went running off to the military as soon as he had the chance. [And the small matter of him turning Alphonse into a ticking time bomb, but this version doesn't seem to have done that yet. Besides, that's not something Greed would necessarily be concerned with, and so long as his little brother doesn't show up it will have to remain a non-issue.]
[When Greed straightens up, for a moment Ed wonders if he said the wrong thing. And then the bellowing laugh, the shaking timber above raining old soot and ashes on their heads shakes any other thought out of his head. Edward's spine snaps ramrod straight when the demon closes back in, all fire and claws and raw intimidation that sets every one of the alarms in his head blaring. But he doesn't back off, staring right back into that burning gaze and baring his teeth in a fierce grin even as beads of sweat roll down his head from the oven-like heat. His pulse beats a swift tempo in his ears, and a few hairs singe away as they brush against the horns that threaten to blister Ed's forehead.]
I haven't belonged to any world in a damn long time. Yeah, I'll take your deal, Greed.
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[As expected, the Alchemist doesn't back down. Not even when instinct makes his spine taut like a wire. The Sin pockets one hand and the other shoots out at an index. He taps his company's shoulder with a terrible grin, amusement laced under fire.] Ha - ! Fine then, just remember -
[He backs away then and a good breeze runs in swiftly. Extending itself across the Alchemist like someone shoving between, spreading themselves to protect the other against another onslaught. Greed's arm falls slack back to his side, the murky thick of his own after-burn now nothing more than dim twinkles of dust. He slaps his foot down as an afterthought and the tail behind him cracks with an interest.] - you'd be working for me. [As he talks, his tail relaxes and the arrow-tipped point sinks into a dresser, pulling out one of the drawers. He doesn't need to see it to know it's there - a key ring. And while it's lost some weight since he first started, there's still pieces of iron left dangling on the line. The end of his tail slips through the circlet of metal, bringing it up and out of the proverbial abyss in a harmony of soft, haunting chimes.]
[He immediately deposits it in the open stretch of his hand.] Yours is down the hall. [The Sin replies and his thumb nail presses into the ring, popping out one solid key. It's a bit smaller than the rest, its teeth crooked and flaked-over in rust damage. Pockets of gnarled metal drill themselves into the base, making it look particularly old. He tosses it to Ed.] I'm sure I don't have to explain how the rest of this works, do I?
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[His eyes stay locked with the sin's own for several moments before he remembers the glass still in his hand. With another sigh he knocks it back, draining the half-filled glass with a grimace before setting it back down. The bottle he keeps hold of, carefully stoppered back up for later and held close to the chest. His eyes follow Greed's movements, note the keyring with interest.]
Even if I didn't, you wouldn't let me forget, would you? [No, he knows who has the proverbial leash on his new collar, who it is he answers to now. Oddly it doesn't chafe as much as the old, not yet, but then the bargain has only just been struck. There's still plenty of time for the friction to build. No sense in inviting any of it sooner than needed.]
[When the key is tossed his way he snatches it out of the air easily, and he looks it over for a moment while Greed talks. Old, broken, but still useable...there should be a joke about fitting locks here, but he can't think of it. Gold eyes flick back up, and Ed smirks as he pockets the key.] Nah, I think I got it from here.
[He turns and heads back to the door, taking that as a dismissal for the moment. He pauses before opening it though, looking at the demon with an honest, real smile.] Thanks.
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Don't mention it, kid. [It's almost sincere, almost - well. Greed shoots a hand above his head, knocking his wrist off at a slant. It's a quick wave, two of his fingers tucked together like someone making a crude gesture of a firearm. Then the kid's off.]
[And he has one more to add to the growing list.]