[Read: That's where he'll be. Scar hasn't been thinking about this much. It's no different than any of the other times they've spoken, any of the times they've sat together or done something together.
But that is, perhaps, the most nerve-inducing detail of all. They aren't doing anything different. There's been something more to it all along.
[Lust arrives a few minutes after her text. Guttle is with her, in high spirits after a morning at the gym. He's enjoying this new surge of fitness more than his trainer.
Scar is always easy to spot, and easier still in a small and not very crowded dining area. She lifts her free hand in greeting before approaching, take-away bags in her other. Despite Alphonse's surprisingly enthusiastic reaction to her mentioning she was meeting Scar for breakfast, she'd had a good workout and was managing to keep most of her nerves in check, even now.]
Good morning.
[She's glad she hadn't bothered to bring something to change into after the gym and had simply worn her outer sweats. She has a feeling that dressing up in any way would almost be threatening. They aren't either of them on very sure footing here. And anyway, it's more meaningful to show up as she is. She wants him to be with her, and stripping away all the frills and polish is something she's never done for any other man.]
I brought you an egg and rice bowl, I hope that's alright.
Scar only nodded as she sat down. He wasn't picky on food in the least. Whatever Lust had brought was probably nicer than anything he would have bought for himself, anyway.
Lust just laughed at that, more out of surprise and fondness than anything. Of course Scar would ask that.
"Nothing, breakfast is my treat. I suggested it, I provide it. That only seems fair."
And she knew that much about this whole dating mess. One party treated the other.
She began opening the take away bags, passing Scar a covered bowl that contained brown rice and an omelette, molded to look like a Teddiursa under a blanket. Her own breakfast was a sweet paste filled waffle shaped like a Magicarp. Even the food options here were cute things.
"You can get the next one."
She knew he didn't like to feel as though he was being taken care of.
Scar frowned but soon dropped it. He would just find a way to get back. Instead, he turned his attention to the breakfast she had placed before him.
"I can't eat that." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. For once, he wasn't being deathly serious. His tone even began to imply it, if only a little bit.
"It's too..." cute. Scar cut himself off, leaning to take a closer look at the dish.
"It's practically art, I know. A touch childish, maybe, but you've always reminded me a bit of a bear." And it wasn't sweet. She smiled, though, at the hint of simple honesty in his reaction. It was so rare that any cracks appear in Scar's stony and hard walls, making it all the more noteworthy when it happened.
"Would it be easier if I mashed it up for you first?"
She, meanwhile, would gleefully bite the head off her Magicarp waffle.
Scar opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't find anything to say. He reminded her of a bear? What was that supposed to even mean? He pulled a tight frown and scooped into his breakfast as a way of pointedly ignoring her offer to smash it up for him.
"How am I supposed to take that?" Half actual question, half disapproving comment. Bear. Really!
"It's a compliment. You're tall and strong and can be dangerous when you feel threatened, and you're very masculine but you'd do anything to protect little ones. Those are things I associate with bears." Lust shrugged. After finishing another bite of her waffle, she held up a finger and went on.
"And your arms. You look like it would be nice to be hugged by you. I think it would be nice to hug a bear - the term 'bear-hug' came from somewhere, I suppose."
Perhaps not the most romantic of compliments, but he did look like he'd be very pleasant to hug. And so did bears.
Scar slowed to a stop while in the process of eating his breakfast. There was a hint of genuine confusion in his frown as he looked at Lust like she had just grown another head.
"Don't try to hug any to find out," was all he managed to say to any of that. He returned to staring at his breakfast.
Scar gave her one more cynical look before dropping it.
"You should know how to keep yourself safe," he agreed quietly, embarrassed that he hadn't directly thought of it before. Scar was quicker to assume that he would just have to work harder to keep her safe, rather than actually teaching her how to defend herself.
"And I can't do that the ways I know how." Lust nodded. It had been remarkably touching when Alphonse brought it up, and explained his motivation. Sweet that he would think of her like that.
"It never even occurred to me that I don't know how to fight without my talons. I'm sure I could defend myself well enough if I had to, but better to be prepared. It's good fitness training, too." She paused.
"It's funny, I don't know quite when I began adjusting to actually being human, but it's beginning to seem normal."
Scar stared at his plate rather than at Lust, uncertain of what he should say. Adjusting was a good thing, right? Especially if she stopped offering up way too much information whenever the subject of the supposed weaknesses of physical humanity came up.
"It's likely that you're more naturally inclined to it," he finally offered.
Lust nodded at Scar's comment. He had a point - Greed and Envy had been human very briefly, in the scope of things. She was young. She was younger even than her human roommates, technically speaking.
"I was human longer than I was anything else. I don't have centuries of readjusting to do. And maybe...maybe the physical remembers, in some way. I don't know. I think my favorite part is being comfortable." She spoke between bites, her tone light and casual. For once, she wasn't focusing on the negative aspects.
"I mean physically comfortable. Comfortable clothes, comfortable shoes, hot baths that relax the muscles...it's all nicer, human."
And she could wear whatever she damn well pleased.
"A homunculus doesn't experience those sensations?" He frowned up at her over his breakfast. That seemed like such an innate biological function that going without it sounded maddening.
"Oh we do, it just...feels nicer, human. It's more appreciated, I suppose." Lust frowned thoughtfully, trying to put it into words. "My body's just more receptive to physical comforts, I suppose. I warm all the way through, not just my skin, and the warm makes a difference. My muscles get tight and sore now, so there's a noted difference when that tension is eased..."
She nodded then, stumbling on it as she spoke.
"That's it exactly. The comfort means more because the discomfort matters now. There's no constant neutral anymore." She got cold, tired, sore, itchy, tense.... the relief of it was true relief.
"Nothing a hot bath with salts doesn't relieve. It's no different than any other physical exertion." Lust shrugged. There were evenings when she was sore, but a long day out would do the same. "As long as I keep in shape, it's not going to put any serious strain on me."
Which was why she was taking such an interest in her own physical fitness. But it was sweet, that Scar was concerned.
"I'm just as sore from my workout with Alphonse this morning. Which isn't even sore, more of a...stiffness."
"Hm." Scar only made a quiet noise in acknowledgement. He still didn't really like what she did, but he wasn't in the position to say anything about it, either.
"Is he doing well?" It was easier to talk about somebody else, and Scar had done a poor job of keeping in touch with people after the new year had turned over.
"He is. He's settled well, taking care of himself. He's making plenty of friends." Alphonse was forging a nice life for himself here. A pity he didn't have his beloved brother, but she felt that the youngest Elric could handle standing on his own.
"He's a good teacher, too. I enjoy working with him."
"I worry, with his brother gone," Scar muttered, almost under his breath as he stared down at his food and continued to eat. Much as he thought this world to be a much better place to live than their own, the brothers didn't belong here. Even less so, one brother didn't belong here while the other was gone.
"He's doing alright, without Edward. He isn't entirely alone here. He has people in his life already who care about him and look after him if need be." Alphonse had that easy way to him. "He has people to talk to, to go to when he has a need. He's a good trainer and he adores his Pokemon."
It was sad, yes, that the brothers were divided, but...perhaps it was healthy, too, for Alphonse to learn to live on his own and exist as a single entity. Not an Elric Brother, but Alphonse.
"Really?" Lust blinked, a bit surprised at that. It wasn't as though Alphonse needed to, they were in relatively consistent contact. The youngest Elric was over the house more than Scar, for goodness sakes.
"We speak often, too. And I think I see him more often than I see you. Why would he be asking about me?"
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[Read: That's where he'll be. Scar hasn't been thinking about this much. It's no different than any of the other times they've spoken, any of the times they've sat together or done something together.
But that is, perhaps, the most nerve-inducing detail of all. They aren't doing anything different. There's been something more to it all along.
Scar settles at a table by the wall and waits.]
[Action]
Scar is always easy to spot, and easier still in a small and not very crowded dining area. She lifts her free hand in greeting before approaching, take-away bags in her other. Despite Alphonse's surprisingly enthusiastic reaction to her mentioning she was meeting Scar for breakfast, she'd had a good workout and was managing to keep most of her nerves in check, even now.]
Good morning.
[She's glad she hadn't bothered to bring something to change into after the gym and had simply worn her outer sweats. She has a feeling that dressing up in any way would almost be threatening. They aren't either of them on very sure footing here. And anyway, it's more meaningful to show up as she is. She wants him to be with her, and stripping away all the frills and polish is something she's never done for any other man.]
I brought you an egg and rice bowl, I hope that's alright.
I'M GUESSING you don't mind jumping to prose?
"What do I owe you?"
He had to ask.
NOT AT ALL!
"Nothing, breakfast is my treat. I suggested it, I provide it. That only seems fair."
And she knew that much about this whole dating mess. One party treated the other.
She began opening the take away bags, passing Scar a covered bowl that contained brown rice and an omelette, molded to look like a Teddiursa under a blanket. Her own breakfast was a sweet paste filled waffle shaped like a Magicarp. Even the food options here were cute things.
"You can get the next one."
She knew he didn't like to feel as though he was being taken care of.
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"I can't eat that." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. For once, he wasn't being deathly serious. His tone even began to imply it, if only a little bit.
"It's too..." cute. Scar cut himself off, leaning to take a closer look at the dish.
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"Would it be easier if I mashed it up for you first?"
She, meanwhile, would gleefully bite the head off her Magicarp waffle.
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"How am I supposed to take that?" Half actual question, half disapproving comment. Bear. Really!
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"And your arms. You look like it would be nice to be hugged by you. I think it would be nice to hug a bear - the term 'bear-hug' came from somewhere, I suppose."
Perhaps not the most romantic of compliments, but he did look like he'd be very pleasant to hug. And so did bears.
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"Don't try to hug any to find out," was all he managed to say to any of that. He returned to staring at his breakfast.
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Lust was rather certain even Scar could understand that. She could add that she also liked him, but that would likely only fluster him.
"Alphonse is teaching me self defense," she went on, instead. "It's nothing I've thought about, but he made a very goo point when he brought it up."
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"You should know how to keep yourself safe," he agreed quietly, embarrassed that he hadn't directly thought of it before. Scar was quicker to assume that he would just have to work harder to keep her safe, rather than actually teaching her how to defend herself.
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"It never even occurred to me that I don't know how to fight without my talons. I'm sure I could defend myself well enough if I had to, but better to be prepared. It's good fitness training, too." She paused.
"It's funny, I don't know quite when I began adjusting to actually being human, but it's beginning to seem normal."
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"It's likely that you're more naturally inclined to it," he finally offered.
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"I was human longer than I was anything else. I don't have centuries of readjusting to do. And maybe...maybe the physical remembers, in some way. I don't know. I think my favorite part is being comfortable." She spoke between bites, her tone light and casual. For once, she wasn't focusing on the negative aspects.
"I mean physically comfortable. Comfortable clothes, comfortable shoes, hot baths that relax the muscles...it's all nicer, human."
And she could wear whatever she damn well pleased.
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Sometimes, physical comfort, the softness of his Pokémon or of a real bed, were the only things that helped.
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She nodded then, stumbling on it as she spoke.
"That's it exactly. The comfort means more because the discomfort matters now. There's no constant neutral anymore." She got cold, tired, sore, itchy, tense.... the relief of it was true relief.
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"Does your... work... put you under physical stress?" Another glance up.
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Which was why she was taking such an interest in her own physical fitness. But it was sweet, that Scar was concerned.
"I'm just as sore from my workout with Alphonse this morning. Which isn't even sore, more of a...stiffness."
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"Is he doing well?" It was easier to talk about somebody else, and Scar had done a poor job of keeping in touch with people after the new year had turned over.
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"He's a good teacher, too. I enjoy working with him."
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It was sad, yes, that the brothers were divided, but...perhaps it was healthy, too, for Alphonse to learn to live on his own and exist as a single entity. Not an Elric Brother, but Alphonse.
"I'm sure he'd like to see you more."
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"He asks about you, a lot."
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"We speak often, too. And I think I see him more often than I see you. Why would he be asking about me?"
The obvious didn't occur to her.
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"I don't know. He's Alphonse, he does things like that."
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