FMA: The Real World (Part Four)

[amouri]

Barry frowned. "Oh yeah..." Blood being washed off? It hadn't occurred to him that in other parts of the world armour had been used differently.
After the battle there was the peace of either victory or loss, it didn't really matter, any soldier or knight with any sense in his WOULD probably have attended to his equipment as the first thing.
Him and his companions hadn't had that choice.

The question startled him as well, and he couldn't help cocking his head slightly, not quite sure if the girl was serious or not.
He glanced at Sarai as she spoke, taken aback by her answer.
"Er...well..." He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.
It wasn't like he didn't have the time to parent a kid, space was another issue, but he reckoned Dante might be able to help them with that...
He just wasn't sure if he was the right one be the girl's guardian, not with his reputation and history.
Sarai would help though, at least that was a comfort...
"Wow...Erm, I dunno. I'll definitely need your advice anyway Sarai, but if we can figure out the paperwork I don't see why not."
He still was slightly unsure of what he was getting into.
But hey, this whole house had a history of impulsive inhabitants.

[velinda]

*Roze*

Roze nodded happily to the female. "Thanks, Dante." She didn't know what to think of the female at times, but sometimes she could pass off as... caring. She didn't know how scared she should be of that, but she shrugged it off. "Let's put this stuff away, Kimblee." she said, slightly pulling him along, but letting him take the lead after the initial pull.

*Clause*

Clause smiled at the two. "Really, guys? Oh wow! Thank you, thank you! If you hadn't said yes, I would have had to go back to the orphan-" she stopped mid-sentence. "Actually, if you guys don't come with me and "adopt" me now, I'll have to spend unitl you do in that orphanage... And I don't really want to spend much longer there..." Clause shivered, and looked down to her feet...

[Scar]

As Rose began pulling Kimblee away, Scar came in. He gave Kimblee a less-than-docile look, and offered Rosea nod of the head and an addressal of "Holy Mother." before passing by. Looking toward his wife, the Ishballan Warrior Priest froze dead in his tracks, and turned to stare at the retreating couple. "...Ishbal, let this all be a strange misunderstanding." he pleaded, turning away from them with a look of sheer shock plastered across his (Kimblee)scarred face.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Hearing the shocked remark Scar made, he turned around and chuckled at the Scarred man. "Oh, make no mistake about it, Scar." he said, "I'm getting hitched to this here little lamb and we'll be makin' our babies the old fashioned way. No 'Holy Mother' stuff goin' on."

"By the way," he added, "You're actually just the man we wanted to see. You're a priest, right? We need someone to officiate this wedding for us all proper-like. Think you could do the honors? It'd make Roze and me both happy if you did." he finished, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Sarai

She was rather panicked at this, and looked helplessly at Barry and then back at her. "Oh...well I..." she stammered, "I mean to say..well I don't think they'd let an unmarried couple adopt a little girl. Maybe they would let us foster you here. Or...perhaps Roze and Kimblee would adopt you. They'll be married soon."

She really hoped the little girl wouldn't think she was trying to shirk the responsibility, because she wasn't. But adopting a child involved a great deal of paperwork and time. And she wasn't sure how it worked here in this world, but back in Amestris and Ishbal, orphans weren't placed in the homes of unmarried couples or single people. A child needed a mother and father.

[velinda]

((You shirked Riza. XD))

Roze+

Roze nodded back to Scar, and whispered, "Ishbal smile upon you." However, he seemed to double-take once he realized what he was seeing. "Y-yeah... I know... It's just..." she averted her eyes. She didn't know what to tell him, so she said, "Find me later, when I'm alone." She hoped Kimblee wouldn't think something bad of her for that, but when he spoke next about babies, she blushed quite deeply. "Kimblee... Please, you don't have to say it like that..." She gave Scar what appeared to be an apologetic look for Kimblee's words. However, at his next words, she nodded. "Scar-sama... Even if you don't like Kimblee, you don't have to think of it as doing it for him... could you do it... for me...?" she asked him, almost pleadingly, and her eyes showed sincere devotion, but whether he believed her was up to him, ultimately.

[Scar]

Scar glared hard at the floor as he contemplated. How could Kimblee have the nerve to ask him that? The bastard knew full well how much Scar hated him, and he went and asked him to preform a ceremony so that he, Kimblee, the man who blew his face and arm off, could marry the 'Holy Mother'. Scar was about to tell them both to go get some damned sense, but then he looked over at his wife and mentally cursed. He really couldn't deny Rose the right to marry Kimblee, when he himself had married the true cause of the Ishballan massacre.

"...I am completely against this decision, and am offended that you would ask me to do this." he replied, his eyes closed and his arms on his lap, as if in meditation. "I cannot refuse you the right to marry this man, Holy Mother, for obvious reasons,..." (*Coughcough*Mrs. Dante*Coughcough*) "I give you my blessing in your decision, however, I absolutely refuse your request. I will not oversee a marriage between an Ishballan and a heretic." he stated firmly. "...And Kimblee, before you speak so beligerantly, don't forget. I've killed you once. I can do it again." he warned, particularly irritated by the mans vulgar explanation of his intentions for the Holy Mother.

[amouri]

Barry grimaced slightly.
"Huh, didn't think of that..."
Damn. This world sure was tedious in it's ways, of course the added security was maybe a bonus, but the law was way too tight in many places.
Not really knowing what to do, he resigned to biting his thumb, glancing uncertainly at Sarai and the girl.

"Well...There's always Dante and Scar..." He trailed off, knowing that such an idea was useless.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

[Sorry so long, ppl. I'm posting for three characters]

Sarai

She wasn't entirely sure that Dante and Scar would be a good choice. She didn't know much about Scar other than passing words in the traveling group of refugees from the Ishballan War. Their child did seem very sweet and well behaved though, on the other hand. Just because she had gotten off on the wrong foot with the woman didn't mean she was a bad parent.

Riza seemed like a woman with a square head on her shoulders, but didn't she have her hands full with a young one herself as well? And a job?

"Claus," she said finally, "I have no papers to live in this country. I'm sure I need them to adopt or foster a child. If I can secure them, I'll take you on as a foster child. Perhaps Barry could help me watch out for you as well."

She turned to Barry, a bit uneasy and confused about the situation, "Barry, how did you get paperwork to live here? I mean, how does a person go about getting a false identity when they technically shouldn't even exist?"

Riza

It hadn't escaped her notice when the girl had whipped out the large wad of cash. She'd held her tongue then, and she intended too now. In their native country, a girl her age would be held far more accountable for questionable behavior, but in this country things were far too lax, and young people were coddled to the point of being spoilt and ruined.

"Well, you need an education. It's far different finding work in this country without higher education, much less without a primary education." she explained. "Things are different here, very different. Back home, you could be an apprentice in one of many different crafts. Everything here is stamped out by machines or made in factories by unskilled laborers."

"Or worse than that, you'd get stuck working in some place like McDonalds or Wal Mart. There's no future in that."

"The best way to make an honest and safe living is finishing your education. Either that, or end up getting paid slave wages or god forbid, selling drugs or dealing in other petty crimes." she finished, looking into her eyes with subtle scrutiny. That was all she intended to say on the matter, but she hoped the girl got the point.

Kimblee

With each word Scar spoke, Kimblee's face grew more and more red and flushed with rage. He was damned tempted to just tear into the sanctimonious prick with both barrels. What pissed him off the worst was that Roze would probably be apologetic to the bastard for even asking. And he'd be goddamned if this jerk was gonna shame his woman.

He just stood there, shaking his head. "Fine...fine..." he said with a curt nod thrown in. "You know, you're a damned hypocrite. You know that, dontcha? So...what? It's okay to be married to the woman who pulled the strings behind the annihilation of your whole people. But I give you a mark that makes you a chic magnet, thankyouverymuch, and you're gonna get on your high horse? So tell me.... are you just extremely vain...or does Dante rock your world that much?" He gave him a wickedly savage grin. It couldn't be helped. He was rude, crude and unrefined and that wasn't gonna change overnight any time soon.

"Oh..and let's not forget that you let your little girl associate with Martels perverted demon spawn. Are you ignorant or just plain stupid?" he spat.

"C'mon lamb chop," he said taking Roze by the arm, "let's go put this stuff away. We'll just a Justice of the Peace or a Notary Public to marry us." They headed for the stairs and Kimblee shot a reproachful and slightly hurt look at Scar over his shoulder. He couldn't do this one small thing to make his woman happy. What an ass!

[amouri]

((Here's where I wish the time-skip had been shorter...))

Barry thought for a few seconds.
"I had a little...accident the first day I was here, had to be bundled up to the hospital to get a bullet removed from my leg. It's a long story, but the short of it is I tried intervening when a certain cross-dresser decided to shoot Dante. Not the best idea one could have...Anyway, it was only after they had gotten the bullet out that the questions started coming. Seeing as I hardly knew what they were talking about, they started rattling on about amnesia..."
He paused.
"Scar had to get me bailed out. Greed and Martel had friends that could figure out a way of creating my identity."
He shrugged.
"They'd obviously done it before. I don't see why they couldn't help you get the papers in order, after all, they can't be sure that you might get your own place if you don't have any papers. It's not a secret that too many people live in this house."

He glanced down at Clause with a smile.
"And sure I'll help. You seem like you've been through some rough stuff kid."

[velinda]

Roze +

Roze blushed at the scarred man's comment. "The reason we asked... was because the Holy Men of this country might ask too many questions, and my religion isn't exactly followed here... and we've come from somewhat similar backgrounds according to some people... so I just guess I figured..." Her voice was quiet and meek, and almost apologetic. However, when Kimblee spoke out, she stared out in shock. "Kimblee... Don't, please, don't, test his anger... I don't want to lose somebody right after we've decided to get married..." She closed her hand on his tighter, and when he pratically dragged her away, she had to stumble to try and keep up. "K-kimblee...." she said quietly to him.

Hikari-

Hikari knew what the female officer was talking about. She knew quite well what was going on, and she had seen others do the same thing. But the things remained to what she had said herself. "I know... and I would do it, if I could find a level I don't seem too out-of-place in. Like I said, my basic science and math are relatively decent, if not more, but my history and geography on this place is non-existant... so I'd seem dumb if I went to my level classes on that subject and knew nothing... but I'd seem too smart if I went lower and aced the math with no problem... Is there a way around that...?" She didn't know what "Wal-Mart" or "McDonalds" were, exactly, but she'd seen their names around. "And... I stay away from these drug things people have... They seem to do weird things... that I don't want to have happen to me..." She looked up to Riza hopefully. "Can you help me on my dillemma...?"

Clause-

Clause looked back and forth between the two, her face somewhat crestfallen. "I... understand..." she said quietly, but the next things they said lifted her spirits. "Please! Get the papers... although, if the ones you say are good parents, too, then I guess I could go with them, too... Could either one of you show me these people?" she asked them. "To see if they want to take me on temporarily, so I don't have to go back to the orphanage...? If you could... I'd be happy..."

[Zolf J Kimblee]

[Hey Roze, what are the + and - signs next to your character names for?]

Sarai

"I'll get citizen paperwork as soon as I can." she said gently to Claus. The poor little girl was almost terrified and she wanted her to feel safe. And what about school? She'd have to talk to this Riza woman and ask. She seemed capable around here.

Riza

"Well.." she said thoughtfully, "Actually I teach in the public school system here. I know the strings pretty well, and it will be a challenge to get you in a suitable class. Dante teaches a private school I think. I'll ask her when she wakes up. Surely she'll have an idea."

Kimblee

[Actually, he didn't drag her off. More like took her arm and led her away protectively. XD ]

"I'm sorry Roze, but the guy had it coming." he said in his own defense. "He's no saint..he's like most religious people, he played the righteous crusade card to justify murdering alchemists. And all on his own, I might add."

As they went to his room down the hall, his mood soured. He had hoped to give Roze something actually resembling a real wedding instead of a stiff impersonal civil ceremony that would last all of five minutes.

At this point he was too pissed and disgusted to mind much. He set the packages on the bed and flipped through a phone book until he found a J.P. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed the number for details. Fortunately the man had evening hours and would be open later than usual. He reserved a small block of time for a few hours from now and hung up with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, lamb." he said, "I wanted this to go more smoothly than it has. But, on the bright side, I can't wait to see you in your dress." he got to his feet and cupped her chin with his fingers and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "Such a pretty darlin you are."

[dante]

Dante watched silently as the young couple walked off, her hands folded neatly on her lap. It was no surprise to her that Kimblee had improved greatly since arriving in this world, but she never expected for him to actually fall in love. Shaking her head, she decided it was none of her business and reached for her usual book. Opening it, she began thumbing through the pages, trying to find where she left off.

Before she could find it, her husband walked in. "How convenient," she hummed, glancing up at them.

Her lips curved into a small smile when Kimblee asked the big question. Eager to see if her husband had let go of the past, she glanced over at him, and as she suspected she could feel the anger boiling within him. Still, she had a feeling that he would do it for Rose. From what she could gather the two were on good terms, and it would be so unlike him to disappoint such an innocent young woman.

But to her surprise, she was mistaken! She looked over at her husband and quirked a brow, her expression unreadable as usual. Although she had thought that he would do it for the sake of Rose, she could not blame him for refusing. Still, as Kimblee pointed out, the fact that he would refuse to oversee their marriage after marrying the destroyer of his race was more than a tad hypocritical.

After Kimblee stormed off with his beloved, she sighed and stood up, smoothing out her dress. "This is between you three, so I don't plan on getting involved," she began, looking over at Scar. "Nevertheless, he does raise a valid point. He clearly wants to bury the hatchet, and it seems strange that you would be so adamantly against it. Either way, it's your decision."

With that, she brushed past him and made her way out of the living room. She had no time for their drama: a raid was coming up on World of Warcraft, and if her warlock didn't get that new chest piece, heads would roll.

-------------------------------------

"Kids are certainly more... worldly nowadays, aren't they?" Charlotte said in surprise, looking more amused than offended.

"Charming," Ami grumbled as she wiped her wound clean.

----------------------------------

The thug gave him a confused look. "You gonna pick the lock with that? Good luck! And even if ya did, the guards would get ya."

[Scar]

Scar did not respond to his wifes comments on the matter. Folding his hands, the priest closed his eyes and bent his head in prayer. He should have said yes. But he couldn't have. In all this insanity, the one thing left that had made sense was turned upside down. Kimblee wanted to marry an Ishballan woman. Had he said no because he hated Kimblee, or because he didn't want his life to change anymore? "...Ishball damnit." he muttered, before quickly asking forgiveness for his blasphemous comment. The priest then reluctantly rose from his chair and headed upstairs.

Approaching Kimblees room, he paused when he heard the Crimson Alchemist speak. Waiting for the man to finish, he then knocked on the door, and slowly opened it. "...For the record..." he started, his face blank, "Any marriage given by a holyman is only valid for one year. You will need a legally binding marriage contract." he explained. "Secondly, if you have no problems with Ishballan ceremonies, Mr. Kimblee, then I will oversee your wedding."

[amouri]

\\Roze is an ishballan?\\

[velinda]

OoC: Dante... on WoW...? Now I know who that person that always is angry at me is. XD And Barry, in a way, she is.

Roze-
Roze listened to what the man wasn't saying, his mood rather. And what he was saying. "And are you any better? You played the "I've got orders to do this." card. In a way, they're the same thing. After all, he believed the orders were from his god." She didn't really know why she was defending him- maybe because that in a way, they were related? She shook her head, and watched him call up a man to marry them. Then, after he tried to apologize, to which she merely smiled and told him he didn't need to apologize, Scar came in again. With his words, she figured out what he was meaning. "Thank you, Scar!" she said happily, tears almost threatening to come out. She almost made a move to hug the Ishballan, but she remembered who he was and stepped back. "And... we'll get the papers... we just wanted something that felt more... intimate than something else. And... can you help us with the papers, once we get them...? If not, that's fine." she added the last part quickly, as if trying to amend something she had said.

Hikari-

"Um... about the money... It's from working... but not drugs or anything... I'm sorry..." she said quietly. She didn't know if the female would get what she was doing, but she felt she had to say something. And if you could do that... I'd be very grateful to go to school... I kind of want to, anyway... maybe something medical, or dealing with science..."[/color] she looked out a window. "Or maybe a story writer... since with my experiences... you think it could be a good story...?"

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Sarai

She turned her head to the source of malcontented grumbling and watched Roze and Kimblee pass by.

"Trouble in paradise already?"

She turned her attention back to the little girl, "Do you have enough clothes, Claus? If not, I know where we can get you some. It's a short bus ride."

Moments later, Scar passed their room and she glanced at Barry in alarm, "That can't be good." she said in a low whisper.

Riza

She led the young woman to the livingroom, but Dante was no where to be found. Nor was anyone else. She turned back to the girl with a sigh. "Things happen fast around here, best get used to that." she stated, "One minute a room can be full and seconds later...this." she finished.

"Well, she's bound to turn up sooner or later. Let's go find a snack. I want something sweet." She opened the fridge back in the kitchen and frowned at the contents. There was plenty of food. Just nothing she felt like eating. In the freezer, she was rewarded with the sight of three half gallons of ice cream. Banana Split, Peanut Butter Panic, and good old fashioned Chocolate. She removed all three and got down two bowls. "I don't know about you, but I plan to eat a scoop of each!" she said, opening all three cartons, "What would you like?"

Kimblee

Kimblee braced himself and took Roze's hand as the Scarred man entered their room. He'd been expecting trouble at the least and at the worst, to be tossed out a second story window. He relaxed and cocked a brow as he listened.

Roze was thrilled and that made him happy. It was a relief to not have to drag any legalities into it while he waited for the rest of his paperwork to come through. He already had a social security card and had taken a driver's test..and failed. He had to retake the driving part of it, this time with something other than a stick! The poor instructor had read him the riot act and told him he drove a stick like a woman. He'd been grateful to not have access to alchemy that day!

"Thanks, Scar." he said finally and with a moment of brief hesitation, he offered his hand to shake, "It means alot to Roze...to both of us."

[Scar]

Scar looked Kimblee dead in the eye. He maintained that unbroken connection for three seconds, then, with an equal ammount of hesitance, clasped Kimblee's hand with his own to give a brief shake. "...I still don't like you." he assured. Giving them a nod, he turned to leave, closing Kimblees door behind him.

[velinda]

Roze held her breath as Kimblee started to speak, but she let it out as he declared a truce, in a way. She also noted how the two shook hands, a sign that they could get along at least. Even if they weren't friends yet, it was a step in the right direction. "We forgot to ask him when we should hold it! Kimblee... also cancel it with that other guy. I'll deal with Scar." With that, she exited after Scar, and called his name. If he didn't turn around, she'd tap him in the shoulder. "Scar-san... when could you do this for us...? Could later in the day suffice, today...?" She didn't want to be too pressing, but she wanted it sooner rather than later.

Hikari-

Hikari followed the female, as she disregarded what her statement could mean. Was the officer really that oblivious? She shook her head, and followed the female into the kitchen. Oh, she knew how the house worked, somewhat, already. She's also had the pleasure of meeting Dante once, too. "I don't think Dante particuarily likes me... when I told her of what was going on before I came her, she scoffed at me..." She shook her head. "Have any French or New York Vanilla? Even normal Vanilla would suffice, but if not... I'll take the peanut butter... I've never been much of a fan of Chocolate..."

Clause-

Clause didn't know what was going on, but she didn't care to ask. Two people had come by her, and then another, scarier-looking man followed after them. She could sense tension, but nothing more. Finally, she realized the female had spoken. "Oh... yeah, sorta... So... what're you going to do... and was that man that passed by Scar? The one with the scar on his forehead?" she wondered. It would fit, right? She looked to the male. "You both... are very nice.... so thank you, both of you..."

[dante]

Dante descended the staircase, a nasty scowl plastered on her otherwise lovely face. She had finished grading all of her papers to make time for that raid, and those incompetent morons did not even bother to show up. Although it was still nice that she had free time, she had been looking forward to getting her warlock some better gear. Then again, she had a feeling that the game was rotting her brain, so perhaps it was actually a blessing in disguise.

"Normally I never have any time to myself, and now that I do I don't know how to spend it. Absolutely perfect," she sighed in annoyance.

Having nothing better to do, she decided to make herself a cup of coffee and head out to her garden. Just as she made her way into the kitchen, she heard that Hikari girl mention that she did not seem to like her. "I don't have anything against you personally, dear," she began, heading over to the coffee pot. "I just don't think that your 'Runology' is a credible science. Feel free to disregard my opinion, but I am speaking as an alchemy teacher with centuries of experience."

She grabbed a mug out of a cabinet and began pouring coffee into it. Taking a sip, she wrinkled her nose in displeasure. "Too strong," she grumbled.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Kimblee

While Roze went to speak to Scar, he called and canceled the appointment with the J.P. Instead, he thumbed through the directory till he found what he was looking for. He dialed the number on his cell phone and made a reservation for a room.

He almost didn't realize what they were asking about when they said 'Mastercard, Visa, or Discover.' "Oh! You mean them plastic money-things." he said, pulling out the credit card. He didn't understand how the economy of this place worked. Didn't seem to make much sense. He didn't like paying with the damned thing; it felt like it would somehow catch up with him and bite him on the ass. He preferred cash, but they insisted on securing a reservation with plastic.

He hung up after reserving a honeymoon suite complete with indoor hot tub, chilled champagne and a dozen each of red, white and pink roses in vases to be waiting for their arrival.

"Oh..and a box of chocolate truffles too." he added and hung up.

There was no way he was gonna spend his wedding night in this crazy house where everything that could go wrong, would.

Riza

[OOC: Sorry about Riza being oblivious about whatever she was oblivious about. Aside from temping Riza and and RP'ing my OC and Kimblee, I have several other RP's on other boards and I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the story lines right now.]

She scooped one large dipper from each carton into her own bowl and was scooping the Peanut Butter Panic flavor for Hikari when Dante walked in. "Would you like some, Dante?" she asked. "Seems an unknown benefactor bought three half gallons of the stuff."

"By the way... you teach at some private school don't you?" she asked, "This young lady here needs an education from someplace that wont ask too many questions about where she came from."

She knew she didn't have to explain further. Getting proof of one's citizenship had to be done through underground channels when you came to this world through a mystical gate. And that took time, money, and connections.

Sarai

She put her arm around the girls shoulders to reassure her of her safety. "Yes dear, that's Scar. Don't be afraid of him, though. He doesn't hurt little girls and boys. He has a little girl of his own. Maybe she could be a playmate for you."

With that, she and Barry took the little girl downstairs to find Riza. She would be a good starting point for securing legal paperwork.

They entered the kitchen in time to conveniently discover that citizenship was already the topic of discussion.

"How do we go about getting identification around here?" she asked when Riza brought it up. "I need an identity and so does this young girl."

Riza looked at her as she ate her ice cream. "I got mine through black market channels." she said, matter of factly. "I don't like doing things that way, but it can't be helped. And I didn't ask how, nor did I want to know the details."