If there are no horses in heaven…I’m not going.
Name;; William t. Raine
Age;; 25
Place of Birth;; Berlin, Germany
Appearance;; Chris Evans. (Who wouldn't want Chris Evans as the gym teacher?)
Short Bio;; Grew up in a martial arts family and held the title in Germany when he was just 16. He was raised by a strict father who always pressured him into doing well. Sue to his father's pressure, William moved to England and then branched out in sports and got a degree. He can teach practically any sport and because of his skill in martial arts is also there to protect the students in Diagon high from any thing that may happen to them. (As many of them are of course heirs, rich or otherwise worthy of kidnapping ETC.) Although there is one student who he has been especially hired to watch over.
Subject Choice;; Gym
Other/s;; He is light hearted and straight forward. Do what you're told and you'll get on fine. He hates people who think they are better than they are and won't hesitate to prove them wrong. He is a nice guy though and also single.
Age;; 25
Place of Birth;; Berlin, Germany
Appearance;; Chris Evans. (Who wouldn't want Chris Evans as the gym teacher?)
Short Bio;; Grew up in a martial arts family and held the title in Germany when he was just 16. He was raised by a strict father who always pressured him into doing well. Sue to his father's pressure, William moved to England and then branched out in sports and got a degree. He can teach practically any sport and because of his skill in martial arts is also there to protect the students in Diagon high from any thing that may happen to them. (As many of them are of course heirs, rich or otherwise worthy of kidnapping ETC.) Although there is one student who he has been especially hired to watch over.
Subject Choice;; Gym
Other/s;; He is light hearted and straight forward. Do what you're told and you'll get on fine. He hates people who think they are better than they are and won't hesitate to prove them wrong. He is a nice guy though and also single.
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Name: Aurora Louise Wakahisa
Nicknames: Ari and only Ari, she'll punch you in the face if you call her anything else.
Age: 17
Looks: Long black hair and black eyes and tanned skin, these traits are from her Japanese mother while her English father gave her her western features. Her skin is always flawless and she hasn't seen a spot in her life. She is slim but lean and the slightest big gangly but holds herself high and alert.
She is beautiful but even someone who merely glances at her can see her cold, calculating eyes noticing everything and summing you up. She has a *stay away from me* aura and rarely smiles, preferring to stay at a distance.
Personality: Ari is quite cold-hearted due to her upbringing and rarely makes friends, preferring to do things alone. She is perfectly polite despite her cold and distant nature and many people, although wary are fascinated by her. She does however have a quick temper and will act on it. The majority of the time she is calm and collected and can easily assess a situation and make quick and sometimes lethal judgement on her actions. She is very determined and brave although her 'people skills' need a lot of work. She does however find people intriguing, eve if she watches from a distance.
Hobbies: Ari doesn't particularly like sitting doing nothing. The only reason she won't be on her feet and doing something active is if she is eating, sleeping, working in school or reading, which she does a lot of. She enjoys watching the occasional movie or TV program although she prefers books and finds television strange. She enjoys a multitude of sport and has been riding since a young age. She also enjoys archery, rock climbing and gymnastics. She also dabbles in Japanese painting and origami.
Bio: Her mother was from an ancient Japanese family who left and married her English father. Her mother however died in childbirth and her father died from a broken heart not long after. She doesn't remember them but they don't really matter to her. She prefers to focus on the living. Once her parents died her Japanese grandparents took her in. Due to her mixed heritage her grandparents didn't think much of her but none the less cared for her. The Wakahisa family was famous for it's heritage as it was one of the ninja families of ancient Japan and despite the change of times, still trained their children with the arts of ninjutsu, taijutsu and kenjutsu, although none of the children were able to master them, until Ari. When Ari was four, an attempted kidnapping was attempted and stopped and Ari was sent to learn the ancient arts, despite her mixed heritage. She was a quick learner and her grandparents were shocked to find her mastering the arts. By the time she was 16 she had mastered them all and was as close to a modern ninja as one could get, being able to fend off any attacker, even her sensei's became no match for her skill. People began to notice her and attempts were made on her life and yet again fearing for her safety, her grandparents sent her to England, to Diagon Academy, to escape the life they had ultimately forced upon her. Due to her old fashioned family Ari was homeschooled by her grandparents and the only people outside of them that she knew were her sensei's. She speaks fluent Japanese and English.
Family: Sensei Takashi Wakahisa- Her grandfather
Haruhi Wakahisa- Her grandmother
Anri Wakahisa (deceased)- Her mother
Henry Wallace (Deceased) - Her father
Secret: Although never having killed anyone with her fighting, she has sent people to hospital with almost lethal injuries and could kill easily if she wanted to.
House: Charles
Additional Info: She brought a black horse with her named Solo. She carries three throwing knives in a case strapped to her thigh but the only people who know this are the school principal. This is in case of any assassination attempts.
Sample Roleplay:
Ari stood at the edge of the square, unsure of how to continue. There were so many people, more than she'd ever seen in one place and they were all so pitifully vulnerable. She could see easily by the way they walked that few would have the necessary skill to defend themselves if attacked but then again, many of them would never be attacked in their lives, they were lucky.
"Aurora?" Her guide asked. He was charged with bringing her to a car that would take her to Diagon High. He was evidently amused by Ari's fascination with the general people walking about and Ari quickly turned on her heel and followed almost walking into a man dressed in a suit, she bowed in apology.
"I'm so sorry, please accept..." She tailed off, the man was already out of sight. She sighed, she wasn't sure if she liked this modern world. She much preferred living with her grandparents, despite it's risks.
Nicknames: Ari and only Ari, she'll punch you in the face if you call her anything else.
Age: 17
Looks: Long black hair and black eyes and tanned skin, these traits are from her Japanese mother while her English father gave her her western features. Her skin is always flawless and she hasn't seen a spot in her life. She is slim but lean and the slightest big gangly but holds herself high and alert.
She is beautiful but even someone who merely glances at her can see her cold, calculating eyes noticing everything and summing you up. She has a *stay away from me* aura and rarely smiles, preferring to stay at a distance.
Personality: Ari is quite cold-hearted due to her upbringing and rarely makes friends, preferring to do things alone. She is perfectly polite despite her cold and distant nature and many people, although wary are fascinated by her. She does however have a quick temper and will act on it. The majority of the time she is calm and collected and can easily assess a situation and make quick and sometimes lethal judgement on her actions. She is very determined and brave although her 'people skills' need a lot of work. She does however find people intriguing, eve if she watches from a distance.
Hobbies: Ari doesn't particularly like sitting doing nothing. The only reason she won't be on her feet and doing something active is if she is eating, sleeping, working in school or reading, which she does a lot of. She enjoys watching the occasional movie or TV program although she prefers books and finds television strange. She enjoys a multitude of sport and has been riding since a young age. She also enjoys archery, rock climbing and gymnastics. She also dabbles in Japanese painting and origami.
Bio: Her mother was from an ancient Japanese family who left and married her English father. Her mother however died in childbirth and her father died from a broken heart not long after. She doesn't remember them but they don't really matter to her. She prefers to focus on the living. Once her parents died her Japanese grandparents took her in. Due to her mixed heritage her grandparents didn't think much of her but none the less cared for her. The Wakahisa family was famous for it's heritage as it was one of the ninja families of ancient Japan and despite the change of times, still trained their children with the arts of ninjutsu, taijutsu and kenjutsu, although none of the children were able to master them, until Ari. When Ari was four, an attempted kidnapping was attempted and stopped and Ari was sent to learn the ancient arts, despite her mixed heritage. She was a quick learner and her grandparents were shocked to find her mastering the arts. By the time she was 16 she had mastered them all and was as close to a modern ninja as one could get, being able to fend off any attacker, even her sensei's became no match for her skill. People began to notice her and attempts were made on her life and yet again fearing for her safety, her grandparents sent her to England, to Diagon Academy, to escape the life they had ultimately forced upon her. Due to her old fashioned family Ari was homeschooled by her grandparents and the only people outside of them that she knew were her sensei's. She speaks fluent Japanese and English.
Family: Sensei Takashi Wakahisa- Her grandfather
Haruhi Wakahisa- Her grandmother
Anri Wakahisa (deceased)- Her mother
Henry Wallace (Deceased) - Her father
Secret: Although never having killed anyone with her fighting, she has sent people to hospital with almost lethal injuries and could kill easily if she wanted to.
House: Charles
Additional Info: She brought a black horse with her named Solo. She carries three throwing knives in a case strapped to her thigh but the only people who know this are the school principal. This is in case of any assassination attempts.
Sample Roleplay:
Ari stood at the edge of the square, unsure of how to continue. There were so many people, more than she'd ever seen in one place and they were all so pitifully vulnerable. She could see easily by the way they walked that few would have the necessary skill to defend themselves if attacked but then again, many of them would never be attacked in their lives, they were lucky.
"Aurora?" Her guide asked. He was charged with bringing her to a car that would take her to Diagon High. He was evidently amused by Ari's fascination with the general people walking about and Ari quickly turned on her heel and followed almost walking into a man dressed in a suit, she bowed in apology.
"I'm so sorry, please accept..." She tailed off, the man was already out of sight. She sighed, she wasn't sure if she liked this modern world. She much preferred living with her grandparents, despite it's risks.
Comment 1 like
Okay, I first heard about the Connecticut shooting this morning and I couldn't imagine it so I went online and looked up the story and honestly, I cried.
I can't think of why a man would open fire in an elementary school, they're kids, they have a future and who the hell was he to take that away from them? Some of those kids had to come out of that school knowing that their best friend was now dead and not understanding for the life of them why it happened. It kills me.
When I read how some of the teachers hid their kids in store cupboards and cabinets, saving their life and how one teacher did this then told the shooter that the kids were in the gym, that teacher was then shot.
So 26 kids and teachers died in the shooting and the reactions to the shooting as in the pictures in the set are just horrible. You can see this isn't a movie, their emotions are real, their lives have literally just been torn apart, some of them will never see their loved ones smile again and what's worse is that at the time of many of the pictures being taken none of them knew if their child was dead or not.
Something else I realised is that those kids who survived, they're going to grow up knowing they survived something horrible that some of their friends didn't and I can't help but think that some may get survivors guilt, especially the the teachers.
I really just wanted to say something about the shooting, I'm on the other side of the ocean to the shooting but it still effects me and although I'm not a religious person in any way, I will be praying for the victims tonight.
Because twenty kids will never have Christmas again.
I can't think of why a man would open fire in an elementary school, they're kids, they have a future and who the hell was he to take that away from them? Some of those kids had to come out of that school knowing that their best friend was now dead and not understanding for the life of them why it happened. It kills me.
When I read how some of the teachers hid their kids in store cupboards and cabinets, saving their life and how one teacher did this then told the shooter that the kids were in the gym, that teacher was then shot.
So 26 kids and teachers died in the shooting and the reactions to the shooting as in the pictures in the set are just horrible. You can see this isn't a movie, their emotions are real, their lives have literally just been torn apart, some of them will never see their loved ones smile again and what's worse is that at the time of many of the pictures being taken none of them knew if their child was dead or not.
Something else I realised is that those kids who survived, they're going to grow up knowing they survived something horrible that some of their friends didn't and I can't help but think that some may get survivors guilt, especially the the teachers.
I really just wanted to say something about the shooting, I'm on the other side of the ocean to the shooting but it still effects me and although I'm not a religious person in any way, I will be praying for the victims tonight.
Because twenty kids will never have Christmas again.
Comment 3 likes
Colonel Emily Chase watched silently from her office window as Hughes, Ed and Al made their way out of Central, Hughes was talking happily and Emily had no doubt that he was telling the brothers either about his family or something about her past, by the interested looks Ed was giving Hughes, Emily assumed it was the latter. As she watched them walk out of sight the door to her office opened and Hawkeye walked in.
“Sir?” He asked quietly, making Emily divert her attention from the shrinking figures. “Can I have a word?”
Emily turned her full attention to Hawkeye; he was standing at the door to her office, one hand still resting on the doorknob. His uniform as usual was neat and Emily could see his gun holster just under his jacket. Looking beyond him she could see the interested faces of her men staring through the doorway sneakily from their desks. She had no doubt that they had been discussing matters together before Hawkeye had finally come to ask her opinion.
“Yes Lieutenant?” The Colonel replied, walking back over to her desk and arranging unsigned papers into a pile. Hawkeye glanced at them, eyes narrowed slightly as he continued.
“About the Elrics,” He paused as the Colonel stared at him with cool eyes. “They’re just kids, they’re too young to be joining the army, and they won’t be ready for things that they’re going to see”
The Colonel stood still for a moment, the silence in the office deafening as her subordinates strained their ears to hear her response. “Believe me, they’ve seen a lot more that you can imagine.”
Hawkeye looked like he was going to continue but decided against it, instead he reminded her. “Those papers are due in fifteen minutes.”
There was mild panic evident in the Colonel’s eyes as she glanced down at the pile of papers. She sat down quickly and grabbed her pen, furiously signing off the papers while Hawkeye helpfully grabbed half and left the room, distributing the papers round the men sitting looking daggers at him. Every man sitting there was perfectly capable of forging the Colonel’s signature and it was times like this when it came in handy.
Ten minutes later, looking slightly harried, the Colonel emerged from the office holding now signed papers. Hawkeye collected the other papers from the different subordinates along with the Colonel’s papers and silently left to deposit them, noticing the look of gratitude from the Colonel as he did so. He simply rolled his eyes when he left the office, walking briskly to meet the deadline. After handing in the papers to the pretty receptionist he smoothly planned a date with her, she blushed and forgot her planned date with Havoc, smiling Hawkeye walked back towards the office at a much more leisurely pace than before.
****
“So you two, I hear you’re from Risembool, what brings you all the way to Central to do this exam” Hughes’s tone was light and conversational but Edward didn’t miss the interested look in his eyes as he asked the question.
“We um-” Edward began, not sure of what to say. Sure Hughes seemed nice and he’d taken them in but Edward couldn’t tell him the real reasons they had come to Central. Edward struggled to think of a reason that sounded plausible but was saved by Gracia’s timely arrival.
“Oh, Hughes dear, stop pestering the boys with questions, I’m sure they’re tired after that long journey, and hungry.” Gracia appeared with a huge platter of spinach quiche and set it on the table, the smell made Edward’s stomach growl loudly and Gracia laughed, cutting him a large piece. She also cut Al a large piece and set it in front of the two boys. Hughes didn’t fail to notice the look that passed between the two boys as the plate was placed in front of Al; Ed’s face was one of guilt while Al stared at him with forgiveness.
Gracia continued splitting up the quiche, giving a large slice to Maes and a smaller slice for herself, the smallest slice went to Elicia who promptly attacked it with her spoon. Hughes attacked his in a similar manner while Gracia ate delicately. Edward munched away while Al left his on his plate. Hughes and Gracia politely ignored that fact but as soon as Elicia noticed she spoke up.
“Al! You haven’t eated anything! You need to grow up to be big and strong like daddy!” Elicia told him, smiling with spinach quiche around her mouth, Ed looked down at his plate, his hair hanging over his face as Al lifted a bread roll from the basket and opened his armour slightly and threw the bread roll in, there was a slight clang as the bread hit the hollow inside of his armour which Hughes couldn’t help but notice.
“Yum” Al emphasised, his soft laugh sounding choked. Edward didn’t look up from his plate as Elicia grinned, clearly satisfied and went back to her own food. Polite conversation was made after that, staying off the subject of Ed and Al’s appearance and focusing on more general topics such as Risembool or their common acquaintance of the Colonel, which turned out to be a popular topic of discussion.
“So she really set fire to top secret documents?” Edward laughed, Hughes nodded enthusiastically. He had brightened up considerably as he listened to Hughes’s very amusing stories about his and the Colonel’s adventures together in the academy, Central and Eastern command.
“She was delirious from a concussion she had failed to report and had no idea that those papers were that important, or maybe she did know and set fire to them out of spite. After that a notice went up on the notice board beside the rules and regulations which basically stated that ‘If any superior officer showed any symptom of injury that they should be reported immediately.’ Then someone, probably Havoc pinned up a side note, stating that this applied to the Colonel, and that ‘I didn’t think it was that serious’ was not an acceptable excuse.” Hughes told him, laughing. “A lot more notices like that went up after that, you should read it when you go the Eastern HQ, I hear more get added all the time.” Hughes told them, remembering quite a few notices he’d put up himself about random things about Eastern Command.
Ed and Al laughed. Gracia giggled then picked up the empty plates. Ed and Al also stood up. “Thank you Mrs Hughes!” Ed told her, smiling happily. His stomach now full with Gracia’s delicious food, he wiped his hands on a napkin and pushed his chair in. Al did the same, his plate now empty, the quiche in Edward’s stomach instead.
“Please, call me Gracia” She smiled, lifting up the last plate. She hurried into the kitchen and Ed grabbed the cups and Al took the bread basket, following Gracia into the kitchen to help her clean up. Hughes grabbed Elicia and disappeared from the dining room, presumably putting her to bed; sure enough he reappeared ten minutes later without the kid and began drying the dishesthat Grasia had washed. Gracia finished washing and motioned for the boys to follow her, leaving Hughes to finish drying.
“I’m afraid we only have one spare room, but I did put in two beds for you,” Gracia told them, leading them down the hallway towards an open room. The apartment was well lit but cosy, childish pictures and family photographs lined the walls. “The bathroom is down the hall and if you two need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask Maes or me”
She smiled and let the boys settle in and making her way back down the hallway she peered into Elicia’s room. The little girl was sleeping on her back, mouth wide open and clutching a teddy bear to her chest. A book sat on the table top, Gracia recognised it as ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and smiled a bit, closing the door softly as she left the room.
Hughes was sitting on the couch when Gracia came in, chin on his hands. He looked up as she moved towards the couch opposite “They settled in?” He asked, taking a sip of tea from the mug in front of him, He lifted another and handed it to Gracia who took it gratefully.
“Yes, although I can’t imagine two children like that joining the military.” Gracia told him, curling up on the opposite sofa.
Hughes nodded. “I agree with you there, I was going to call Emily, see if she’ll tell me anything.” He put his mug down and cleaned his glasses thoughtfully.
“Just don’t stay up too late, dear” Gracia told him, smiling as she left the room. Hughes stood up and made his way over to the phone. He dialled in a number and waiting for the ringing to start. Stretching the phone cord he reached for his tea. He picked the mug up and walked back to the handset, pushing it back towards the wall from its new position of teetering on the edge of the table.
He waited a few seconds, sipping on his tea thoughtfully before someone on the other end picked up.
“Hello?” Hughes instantly recognised Emily’s voice as she answered.
“Yo! Emily!” Hughes announced down the phone line.
“I’m hanging up now,” She told him, Hughes laughed, not entirely convinced that she was serious. He heard a sigh on the end of the line as Emily continued. “It’s late. What do you want, Hughes?”
Hughes smiled as he imagined what the Colonel had probably been doing before he had called; he quickly narrowed it to two options; sleeping or working. “About the Elrics...”
He heard Emily sigh again. “Hughes, if you are calling to lecture me about them, I will find a way to set fire to you through the phone line”
Hughes laughed uneasily, knowing she wasn’t kidding. “I just wanted to know their story. I mean one of them doesn’t eat and wears a huge suit of armour while the other has an automail arm.”
The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds. Hughes knew Emily was thinking hard. “Maes, they’ve been through a lot. You can see that in their eyes. They’ve lost a lot and are trying to find some way to replace it. They committed the taboo-”
“The taboo?! You mean human transmutation?” Hughes asked, shocked. He glanced towards the closed hallway door in case it was suddenly open. He knew about Human transmutation from Emily, who had explained that it was the worst thing for an alchemist to do and that anyone who committed it could be sent to prison or killed.
“Yes. Don’t-” Emily stopped Hughes from saying anything else. “-say a word Hughes. I know what you’re thinking but I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you? Emily, if someone finds out about them-”
“I know what will happen, Hughes; I’m not going to let that happen.” Emily told him, taking a drink of whiskey from the glass in her hand. She signed off another paper and threw it into a pile.
“Just be careful, Emily,” Hughes said. “You know I’ll always support you, no matter what”
Emily closed her eyes, taking another sip of whiskey. “By the way, how much do the Elrics now know about my personal life and my past?”
“Only the good stuff” Hughes smiled down the phone, imagining Emily gritting her teeth on the other end of the phone. Sure enough she was, narrowing her eyes at the fire roaring in the fireplace.
“Hughes...”
“Gotta go!” Hughes hung up quickly setting the phone down delicately as if Emily’s flames could actually burn through the cables. On the other end of the line Emily set the phone down less than delicately, annoyed at Hughes’s big mouth. She finished her whiskey and signed off on another paper, aware of the fire in the fireplace bending to her will as it tossed and turned, roaring loudly until settling again. Emily took a glance at the pile of unsigned papers which only seemed to grow and sighed, wondering where Hawkeye was when she needed him.
@yemmers42397
“Sir?” He asked quietly, making Emily divert her attention from the shrinking figures. “Can I have a word?”
Emily turned her full attention to Hawkeye; he was standing at the door to her office, one hand still resting on the doorknob. His uniform as usual was neat and Emily could see his gun holster just under his jacket. Looking beyond him she could see the interested faces of her men staring through the doorway sneakily from their desks. She had no doubt that they had been discussing matters together before Hawkeye had finally come to ask her opinion.
“Yes Lieutenant?” The Colonel replied, walking back over to her desk and arranging unsigned papers into a pile. Hawkeye glanced at them, eyes narrowed slightly as he continued.
“About the Elrics,” He paused as the Colonel stared at him with cool eyes. “They’re just kids, they’re too young to be joining the army, and they won’t be ready for things that they’re going to see”
The Colonel stood still for a moment, the silence in the office deafening as her subordinates strained their ears to hear her response. “Believe me, they’ve seen a lot more that you can imagine.”
Hawkeye looked like he was going to continue but decided against it, instead he reminded her. “Those papers are due in fifteen minutes.”
There was mild panic evident in the Colonel’s eyes as she glanced down at the pile of papers. She sat down quickly and grabbed her pen, furiously signing off the papers while Hawkeye helpfully grabbed half and left the room, distributing the papers round the men sitting looking daggers at him. Every man sitting there was perfectly capable of forging the Colonel’s signature and it was times like this when it came in handy.
Ten minutes later, looking slightly harried, the Colonel emerged from the office holding now signed papers. Hawkeye collected the other papers from the different subordinates along with the Colonel’s papers and silently left to deposit them, noticing the look of gratitude from the Colonel as he did so. He simply rolled his eyes when he left the office, walking briskly to meet the deadline. After handing in the papers to the pretty receptionist he smoothly planned a date with her, she blushed and forgot her planned date with Havoc, smiling Hawkeye walked back towards the office at a much more leisurely pace than before.
****
“So you two, I hear you’re from Risembool, what brings you all the way to Central to do this exam” Hughes’s tone was light and conversational but Edward didn’t miss the interested look in his eyes as he asked the question.
“We um-” Edward began, not sure of what to say. Sure Hughes seemed nice and he’d taken them in but Edward couldn’t tell him the real reasons they had come to Central. Edward struggled to think of a reason that sounded plausible but was saved by Gracia’s timely arrival.
“Oh, Hughes dear, stop pestering the boys with questions, I’m sure they’re tired after that long journey, and hungry.” Gracia appeared with a huge platter of spinach quiche and set it on the table, the smell made Edward’s stomach growl loudly and Gracia laughed, cutting him a large piece. She also cut Al a large piece and set it in front of the two boys. Hughes didn’t fail to notice the look that passed between the two boys as the plate was placed in front of Al; Ed’s face was one of guilt while Al stared at him with forgiveness.
Gracia continued splitting up the quiche, giving a large slice to Maes and a smaller slice for herself, the smallest slice went to Elicia who promptly attacked it with her spoon. Hughes attacked his in a similar manner while Gracia ate delicately. Edward munched away while Al left his on his plate. Hughes and Gracia politely ignored that fact but as soon as Elicia noticed she spoke up.
“Al! You haven’t eated anything! You need to grow up to be big and strong like daddy!” Elicia told him, smiling with spinach quiche around her mouth, Ed looked down at his plate, his hair hanging over his face as Al lifted a bread roll from the basket and opened his armour slightly and threw the bread roll in, there was a slight clang as the bread hit the hollow inside of his armour which Hughes couldn’t help but notice.
“Yum” Al emphasised, his soft laugh sounding choked. Edward didn’t look up from his plate as Elicia grinned, clearly satisfied and went back to her own food. Polite conversation was made after that, staying off the subject of Ed and Al’s appearance and focusing on more general topics such as Risembool or their common acquaintance of the Colonel, which turned out to be a popular topic of discussion.
“So she really set fire to top secret documents?” Edward laughed, Hughes nodded enthusiastically. He had brightened up considerably as he listened to Hughes’s very amusing stories about his and the Colonel’s adventures together in the academy, Central and Eastern command.
“She was delirious from a concussion she had failed to report and had no idea that those papers were that important, or maybe she did know and set fire to them out of spite. After that a notice went up on the notice board beside the rules and regulations which basically stated that ‘If any superior officer showed any symptom of injury that they should be reported immediately.’ Then someone, probably Havoc pinned up a side note, stating that this applied to the Colonel, and that ‘I didn’t think it was that serious’ was not an acceptable excuse.” Hughes told him, laughing. “A lot more notices like that went up after that, you should read it when you go the Eastern HQ, I hear more get added all the time.” Hughes told them, remembering quite a few notices he’d put up himself about random things about Eastern Command.
Ed and Al laughed. Gracia giggled then picked up the empty plates. Ed and Al also stood up. “Thank you Mrs Hughes!” Ed told her, smiling happily. His stomach now full with Gracia’s delicious food, he wiped his hands on a napkin and pushed his chair in. Al did the same, his plate now empty, the quiche in Edward’s stomach instead.
“Please, call me Gracia” She smiled, lifting up the last plate. She hurried into the kitchen and Ed grabbed the cups and Al took the bread basket, following Gracia into the kitchen to help her clean up. Hughes grabbed Elicia and disappeared from the dining room, presumably putting her to bed; sure enough he reappeared ten minutes later without the kid and began drying the dishesthat Grasia had washed. Gracia finished washing and motioned for the boys to follow her, leaving Hughes to finish drying.
“I’m afraid we only have one spare room, but I did put in two beds for you,” Gracia told them, leading them down the hallway towards an open room. The apartment was well lit but cosy, childish pictures and family photographs lined the walls. “The bathroom is down the hall and if you two need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask Maes or me”
She smiled and let the boys settle in and making her way back down the hallway she peered into Elicia’s room. The little girl was sleeping on her back, mouth wide open and clutching a teddy bear to her chest. A book sat on the table top, Gracia recognised it as ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and smiled a bit, closing the door softly as she left the room.
Hughes was sitting on the couch when Gracia came in, chin on his hands. He looked up as she moved towards the couch opposite “They settled in?” He asked, taking a sip of tea from the mug in front of him, He lifted another and handed it to Gracia who took it gratefully.
“Yes, although I can’t imagine two children like that joining the military.” Gracia told him, curling up on the opposite sofa.
Hughes nodded. “I agree with you there, I was going to call Emily, see if she’ll tell me anything.” He put his mug down and cleaned his glasses thoughtfully.
“Just don’t stay up too late, dear” Gracia told him, smiling as she left the room. Hughes stood up and made his way over to the phone. He dialled in a number and waiting for the ringing to start. Stretching the phone cord he reached for his tea. He picked the mug up and walked back to the handset, pushing it back towards the wall from its new position of teetering on the edge of the table.
He waited a few seconds, sipping on his tea thoughtfully before someone on the other end picked up.
“Hello?” Hughes instantly recognised Emily’s voice as she answered.
“Yo! Emily!” Hughes announced down the phone line.
“I’m hanging up now,” She told him, Hughes laughed, not entirely convinced that she was serious. He heard a sigh on the end of the line as Emily continued. “It’s late. What do you want, Hughes?”
Hughes smiled as he imagined what the Colonel had probably been doing before he had called; he quickly narrowed it to two options; sleeping or working. “About the Elrics...”
He heard Emily sigh again. “Hughes, if you are calling to lecture me about them, I will find a way to set fire to you through the phone line”
Hughes laughed uneasily, knowing she wasn’t kidding. “I just wanted to know their story. I mean one of them doesn’t eat and wears a huge suit of armour while the other has an automail arm.”
The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds. Hughes knew Emily was thinking hard. “Maes, they’ve been through a lot. You can see that in their eyes. They’ve lost a lot and are trying to find some way to replace it. They committed the taboo-”
“The taboo?! You mean human transmutation?” Hughes asked, shocked. He glanced towards the closed hallway door in case it was suddenly open. He knew about Human transmutation from Emily, who had explained that it was the worst thing for an alchemist to do and that anyone who committed it could be sent to prison or killed.
“Yes. Don’t-” Emily stopped Hughes from saying anything else. “-say a word Hughes. I know what you’re thinking but I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you? Emily, if someone finds out about them-”
“I know what will happen, Hughes; I’m not going to let that happen.” Emily told him, taking a drink of whiskey from the glass in her hand. She signed off another paper and threw it into a pile.
“Just be careful, Emily,” Hughes said. “You know I’ll always support you, no matter what”
Emily closed her eyes, taking another sip of whiskey. “By the way, how much do the Elrics now know about my personal life and my past?”
“Only the good stuff” Hughes smiled down the phone, imagining Emily gritting her teeth on the other end of the phone. Sure enough she was, narrowing her eyes at the fire roaring in the fireplace.
“Hughes...”
“Gotta go!” Hughes hung up quickly setting the phone down delicately as if Emily’s flames could actually burn through the cables. On the other end of the line Emily set the phone down less than delicately, annoyed at Hughes’s big mouth. She finished her whiskey and signed off on another paper, aware of the fire in the fireplace bending to her will as it tossed and turned, roaring loudly until settling again. Emily took a glance at the pile of unsigned papers which only seemed to grow and sighed, wondering where Hawkeye was when she needed him.
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“You’ll just love my Gracia; she makes the best meals anyone could ask for!” Hughes told the boys, nearly skipping down the corridor with delight. They were making their way out of Central Command quickly; Hughes had stopped dragging Edward a few corridors back and had taken to babbling to the brothers instead. “Oh! And my daughter Elicia is the cutest bundle of joy you’ll ever see! Look!”
Hughes shoved a picture of a smiling kid in front of Edward’s face; Edward looked at it, and then handed it to Al. “Yeah, she looks cute.” He told Hughes as Al handed the photo back.
“She is! You’ll love her! She’s been learning how to read herself and she’s just so smart!” Hughes continued babbling as they left Central Command, some soldiers looking sorry for the boys as they heard what Hughes was talking about, others were just thankful it wasn’t them he was chatting to. When they were back in the cold, nippy air of spring, Edward looked over to Hughes who was still talking amiably about his family. He thought about the easy way Hughes had interacted with the Colonel, even when she had looked ready to fry him.
“Hey Hughes,” Edward started, getting Hughes attention as he stopped mid-flow, turning his eyes on Edward. Al also looked at Edward, wondering what his brother would ask now. “How do you know the Colonel so well? I mean, you guys seem to be good friends.”
Hughes nodded, serious now. “Yeah, me and the Colonel have known each other a while, whole way back to the academy. Hated each other back then but a lot has changed since then.” Edward could see the memory in Hughes face as he remembered his rather adventurous time at the academy with the Colonel.
“I didn’t think alchemists went to the academy” Alphonse said thoughtfully, interrupting Hughes’s happy memories.
“She didn’t go to the academy as an alchemist; in fact we didn’t even figure out that she was an alchemist until a few months into her stay at the academy.” Hughes told them, pushing his glasses up his nose from where they had slipped down, knowing the full well the Colonel’s reaction if he spread stories about her time in the academy, still he realised he didn’t care and considered it payback for not buying him a coffee earlier.
“What happened to make you figure it out?” Edward asked, suddenly interested in the Colonel’s past. He couldn’t imagine someone like the Colonel keeping her alchemy a secret, especially since it was flame alchemy.
“Well, she joined at sixteen, the youngest recruit there, honestly I still have no idea how she got in but she did. As you’ve probably noticed the Colonel doesn’t look especially tough or strong, and because of her age, many of the recruits picked on her, teasing her about different things. Emily however, she didn’t pay any attention and I hate to admit, I was one of the ones who teased her. Anyway, she made a friend, an Ishbalan-”
“An Ishbalan?” Edward asked, surprised. “But I thought they weren’t allowed to join the military.”
“They were before the Ishbalan rebellion, they were considered Amestrian citizens then” Hughes informed them. “The Ishbalan was a quiet man, never spoke out against people being cruel about his origins or got into fights about it. The Colonel however, well let’s just say she lost her temper a bit one day and set those current offenders’ shoes on fire, using a circle she’d drawn in class and the flame from the ovens. Right in the middle of the canteen she set fire to their shoes. Those idiots couldn’t walk for a week. The fuehrer was visiting the academy at the time and before she could be reprimanded properly, called her for a meeting to offer her a place as a state alchemist, as long as she could create the flames again. After the canteen incident she was still pretty volatile and sent flames straight to the fuehrer’s face, stopping inches away from his nose before walking out, taking the huge flames with her. She was immediately granted the title of state alchemist, being granted the title of Major the second she left the academy. After that people pretty much stopped making fun of her and the Ishbalan.” Hughes finished his story, amused at the looks on the two boys’ faces. “What? Didn’t think the Colonel would do something like that, believe me, I could tell you some stories about her.”
Edward blinked. “I just couldn’t imagine her doing something like that, especially to the fuehrer; I mean that could be considered treason, right?”
“Possibly, depends on what mood the fuehrer’s in” Hughes answered thoughtfully, looking at a payphone as they passed, the red standing out against the green grass.
“But Hughes, you still haven’t told us how you two became friends” Al pointed out, still carrying Edward’s suitcase, the group had moved from the park and were now walking down a long street going into the city. They passed shop owners closing up their stores, probably heading back to their families, similar to Hughes.
Hughes laughed, continuing his story “Well, after the ‘flame incident’ as we’d called it. Most of the teasing had stopped but the group of soldiers she had destroyed the shoes of weren’t happy, they were sons of army big shots and planned to become better than their fathers. I hung out with them for a while and they were completely full of themselves, convinced that they were going to become big shot generals and they all wanted revenge on Emily. After all because of her passing the state alchemy exam, she would graduate a higher rank than them. They couldn’t do much though, due to Emily’s Ishbalan friend, he was a strong guy, good in a fight, even though the only fighting he did was in training. Even the Colonel herself was much stronger than they had first thought, her small skinny frame lean with muscle that they hadn’t seen because of their arrogance. She could take an upperclassman on in training no problem, so she was a hard target, especially if she had a transmutation circle and a spark. The soldiers’ only hope was to get her alone and off guard and that’s what they did, she was reading while walking, not paying much attention to her surroundings, her friend was doing extra training and she hadn’t had a theory class that day so there was no transmutation circle doodled on her hand. The soldiers grabbed her as she walked past an alley and two of them together managed to hold her back from ripping someone’s face off. She still managed to kick one of them before they started beating the crap out of her. Winded and bruised, the two soldiers holding her let her go as she struggled to breath and then, stupid as she is, she got up and punched the leader straight on the nose, it bled badly and before the other’s could retaliate and fight some more, I appeared holding a gun I had borrowed from the shooting range. They left her alone pretty quickly, laughing as they tried to persuade me to shoot Emily. Instead I lit a match, and suddenly their feet were burning again, they ran off before she could burn anything else. Her nose and lips were bleeding badly and I’m pretty sure she fractured her ribs but you know what she said to me,”
Hughes paused, smiling as he remembered.
“She stood up, looking like she was about to fall over and like the idiot she is told me ‘I didn’t ask for your help, Hughes’ I must say I was slightly surprised that she knew my name, but then I realised we were in some of the same classes and looking at her then I smiled at her and replied ‘You didn’t need to’ and she gave me a strange look as she wiped the bloody transmutation circle off the back of her hand and turned to walk away, the opposite direction to the infirmary might I add and then promptly collapsed right there in that alley, leaving me to haul her sorry ass into a hospital bed, something I’ve had to do a lot since then.”
Hughes stopped walking, noticing the two boys had stopped a few seconds ago, they both looked confused and slightly shocked. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just,” Edward paused, unsure of how to continue, he didn’t want to make it seem like he had a lot of respect for the Colonel already. “The Colonel seems so...”
“Invincible? Yeah, she wishes. She gets injured more than anyone I know, once she came into the office after being shot and no one noticed until after I slapped her on the back and the blood seeped through her uniform, honestly I’ve never heard her swear so much, she had no concern for her wellbeing whatsoever, it’s ridiculous.” Hughes explained, laughing slightly at the Colonel’s distinct hatred for any type of medical facility. Ed and Al, looked at each other, neither of them being able to imagine that happening but neither questioning the circumstances.
They reached a tall apartment building and Hughes led the way inside, back to chatting about Gracia’s amazing cooking and Elicia’s adorableness. Alphonse joined in on the easy chatter but Edward stayed silent, lost in his thoughts. Hughes pretended not to notice as they rode the elevator up and got out at the fifth floor, knocking at the first door they came to. After a few seconds, a pretty woman with short, light brown hair and kind eyes answered the door and smiled at them as a small bundle of energy hurled itself at Hughes. He caught the ball of energy, laughing as he did so.
“DADDY!!” The kid yelled, hugging Hughes tightly, he hugged her back then set her down, giving his wife a quick hug. Edward and Alphonse couldn’t help but admit to themselves that the kid was adorable, with cute pigtails and a 100watt smile. Although Edwards smile quickly turned into a snarl as Elicia made the decision that he was the younger brother.
“Hello Elicia, I’m Edward and this is my little brother, Alphonse, get it? Little brother” He said through gritted teeth. Al held Edwards hood tentatively, in case he decided to attack the small child, which would definitely get them kicked out of Hughes’s apartment.
“Nu-uh,” the kid said stubbornly. “Younger means little, you’re little.” Edward looked like he was about to start foaming at the mouth when Elicia smiled again and Edward found himself softening a little. Elicia grabbed Al’s large hand and dragged him into the apartment, similar to how Hughes had dragged Edward from the Colonel’s office and Al couldn’t help but wonder if Elicia was taking after her father. As Gracia smiled warmly at them she told them to take their shoes off before also disappearing inside to tend to the delicious smells wafting out, leaving Hughes and Edward to close the door. Edward took off his coat, hanging it on the coat stand, Hughes doing the same, although Hughes’s black military coat was a lot longer than Edwards red leather one. As Ed removed his gloves Hughes noticed the automail arm and nodded quietly to himself, he would ask the Colonel about them tomorrow, he told himself, knowing that she would have squeezed the information out of the two boys.
“Hey Hughes,” Edward said, turning to the older man, glad that they were alone. He had wanted to ask him this from the minute Hughes had finished telling him and Al the story. “What happened to the Colonel’s friend?”
Hughes looked at him for a second before looking away, he was quiet for a few seconds before answering, his voice hard to hear against the racket in the dining room. “He died”
Turning on his heel, Hughes made his way into the dining room, leaving Edward alone in the hall, listening to the loud sounds of Hughes’s family and wondering if he’d ever be as happy as the man who loved his family with all his being.
@yemmers42397
Hughes shoved a picture of a smiling kid in front of Edward’s face; Edward looked at it, and then handed it to Al. “Yeah, she looks cute.” He told Hughes as Al handed the photo back.
“She is! You’ll love her! She’s been learning how to read herself and she’s just so smart!” Hughes continued babbling as they left Central Command, some soldiers looking sorry for the boys as they heard what Hughes was talking about, others were just thankful it wasn’t them he was chatting to. When they were back in the cold, nippy air of spring, Edward looked over to Hughes who was still talking amiably about his family. He thought about the easy way Hughes had interacted with the Colonel, even when she had looked ready to fry him.
“Hey Hughes,” Edward started, getting Hughes attention as he stopped mid-flow, turning his eyes on Edward. Al also looked at Edward, wondering what his brother would ask now. “How do you know the Colonel so well? I mean, you guys seem to be good friends.”
Hughes nodded, serious now. “Yeah, me and the Colonel have known each other a while, whole way back to the academy. Hated each other back then but a lot has changed since then.” Edward could see the memory in Hughes face as he remembered his rather adventurous time at the academy with the Colonel.
“I didn’t think alchemists went to the academy” Alphonse said thoughtfully, interrupting Hughes’s happy memories.
“She didn’t go to the academy as an alchemist; in fact we didn’t even figure out that she was an alchemist until a few months into her stay at the academy.” Hughes told them, pushing his glasses up his nose from where they had slipped down, knowing the full well the Colonel’s reaction if he spread stories about her time in the academy, still he realised he didn’t care and considered it payback for not buying him a coffee earlier.
“What happened to make you figure it out?” Edward asked, suddenly interested in the Colonel’s past. He couldn’t imagine someone like the Colonel keeping her alchemy a secret, especially since it was flame alchemy.
“Well, she joined at sixteen, the youngest recruit there, honestly I still have no idea how she got in but she did. As you’ve probably noticed the Colonel doesn’t look especially tough or strong, and because of her age, many of the recruits picked on her, teasing her about different things. Emily however, she didn’t pay any attention and I hate to admit, I was one of the ones who teased her. Anyway, she made a friend, an Ishbalan-”
“An Ishbalan?” Edward asked, surprised. “But I thought they weren’t allowed to join the military.”
“They were before the Ishbalan rebellion, they were considered Amestrian citizens then” Hughes informed them. “The Ishbalan was a quiet man, never spoke out against people being cruel about his origins or got into fights about it. The Colonel however, well let’s just say she lost her temper a bit one day and set those current offenders’ shoes on fire, using a circle she’d drawn in class and the flame from the ovens. Right in the middle of the canteen she set fire to their shoes. Those idiots couldn’t walk for a week. The fuehrer was visiting the academy at the time and before she could be reprimanded properly, called her for a meeting to offer her a place as a state alchemist, as long as she could create the flames again. After the canteen incident she was still pretty volatile and sent flames straight to the fuehrer’s face, stopping inches away from his nose before walking out, taking the huge flames with her. She was immediately granted the title of state alchemist, being granted the title of Major the second she left the academy. After that people pretty much stopped making fun of her and the Ishbalan.” Hughes finished his story, amused at the looks on the two boys’ faces. “What? Didn’t think the Colonel would do something like that, believe me, I could tell you some stories about her.”
Edward blinked. “I just couldn’t imagine her doing something like that, especially to the fuehrer; I mean that could be considered treason, right?”
“Possibly, depends on what mood the fuehrer’s in” Hughes answered thoughtfully, looking at a payphone as they passed, the red standing out against the green grass.
“But Hughes, you still haven’t told us how you two became friends” Al pointed out, still carrying Edward’s suitcase, the group had moved from the park and were now walking down a long street going into the city. They passed shop owners closing up their stores, probably heading back to their families, similar to Hughes.
Hughes laughed, continuing his story “Well, after the ‘flame incident’ as we’d called it. Most of the teasing had stopped but the group of soldiers she had destroyed the shoes of weren’t happy, they were sons of army big shots and planned to become better than their fathers. I hung out with them for a while and they were completely full of themselves, convinced that they were going to become big shot generals and they all wanted revenge on Emily. After all because of her passing the state alchemy exam, she would graduate a higher rank than them. They couldn’t do much though, due to Emily’s Ishbalan friend, he was a strong guy, good in a fight, even though the only fighting he did was in training. Even the Colonel herself was much stronger than they had first thought, her small skinny frame lean with muscle that they hadn’t seen because of their arrogance. She could take an upperclassman on in training no problem, so she was a hard target, especially if she had a transmutation circle and a spark. The soldiers’ only hope was to get her alone and off guard and that’s what they did, she was reading while walking, not paying much attention to her surroundings, her friend was doing extra training and she hadn’t had a theory class that day so there was no transmutation circle doodled on her hand. The soldiers grabbed her as she walked past an alley and two of them together managed to hold her back from ripping someone’s face off. She still managed to kick one of them before they started beating the crap out of her. Winded and bruised, the two soldiers holding her let her go as she struggled to breath and then, stupid as she is, she got up and punched the leader straight on the nose, it bled badly and before the other’s could retaliate and fight some more, I appeared holding a gun I had borrowed from the shooting range. They left her alone pretty quickly, laughing as they tried to persuade me to shoot Emily. Instead I lit a match, and suddenly their feet were burning again, they ran off before she could burn anything else. Her nose and lips were bleeding badly and I’m pretty sure she fractured her ribs but you know what she said to me,”
Hughes paused, smiling as he remembered.
“She stood up, looking like she was about to fall over and like the idiot she is told me ‘I didn’t ask for your help, Hughes’ I must say I was slightly surprised that she knew my name, but then I realised we were in some of the same classes and looking at her then I smiled at her and replied ‘You didn’t need to’ and she gave me a strange look as she wiped the bloody transmutation circle off the back of her hand and turned to walk away, the opposite direction to the infirmary might I add and then promptly collapsed right there in that alley, leaving me to haul her sorry ass into a hospital bed, something I’ve had to do a lot since then.”
Hughes stopped walking, noticing the two boys had stopped a few seconds ago, they both looked confused and slightly shocked. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just,” Edward paused, unsure of how to continue, he didn’t want to make it seem like he had a lot of respect for the Colonel already. “The Colonel seems so...”
“Invincible? Yeah, she wishes. She gets injured more than anyone I know, once she came into the office after being shot and no one noticed until after I slapped her on the back and the blood seeped through her uniform, honestly I’ve never heard her swear so much, she had no concern for her wellbeing whatsoever, it’s ridiculous.” Hughes explained, laughing slightly at the Colonel’s distinct hatred for any type of medical facility. Ed and Al, looked at each other, neither of them being able to imagine that happening but neither questioning the circumstances.
They reached a tall apartment building and Hughes led the way inside, back to chatting about Gracia’s amazing cooking and Elicia’s adorableness. Alphonse joined in on the easy chatter but Edward stayed silent, lost in his thoughts. Hughes pretended not to notice as they rode the elevator up and got out at the fifth floor, knocking at the first door they came to. After a few seconds, a pretty woman with short, light brown hair and kind eyes answered the door and smiled at them as a small bundle of energy hurled itself at Hughes. He caught the ball of energy, laughing as he did so.
“DADDY!!” The kid yelled, hugging Hughes tightly, he hugged her back then set her down, giving his wife a quick hug. Edward and Alphonse couldn’t help but admit to themselves that the kid was adorable, with cute pigtails and a 100watt smile. Although Edwards smile quickly turned into a snarl as Elicia made the decision that he was the younger brother.
“Hello Elicia, I’m Edward and this is my little brother, Alphonse, get it? Little brother” He said through gritted teeth. Al held Edwards hood tentatively, in case he decided to attack the small child, which would definitely get them kicked out of Hughes’s apartment.
“Nu-uh,” the kid said stubbornly. “Younger means little, you’re little.” Edward looked like he was about to start foaming at the mouth when Elicia smiled again and Edward found himself softening a little. Elicia grabbed Al’s large hand and dragged him into the apartment, similar to how Hughes had dragged Edward from the Colonel’s office and Al couldn’t help but wonder if Elicia was taking after her father. As Gracia smiled warmly at them she told them to take their shoes off before also disappearing inside to tend to the delicious smells wafting out, leaving Hughes and Edward to close the door. Edward took off his coat, hanging it on the coat stand, Hughes doing the same, although Hughes’s black military coat was a lot longer than Edwards red leather one. As Ed removed his gloves Hughes noticed the automail arm and nodded quietly to himself, he would ask the Colonel about them tomorrow, he told himself, knowing that she would have squeezed the information out of the two boys.
“Hey Hughes,” Edward said, turning to the older man, glad that they were alone. He had wanted to ask him this from the minute Hughes had finished telling him and Al the story. “What happened to the Colonel’s friend?”
Hughes looked at him for a second before looking away, he was quiet for a few seconds before answering, his voice hard to hear against the racket in the dining room. “He died”
Turning on his heel, Hughes made his way into the dining room, leaving Edward alone in the hall, listening to the loud sounds of Hughes’s family and wondering if he’d ever be as happy as the man who loved his family with all his being.
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