FMA: The Real World (Part Four)

[velinda]

(I'll wait for Scar to post as Roze again)

Hikari-

Hikari listened to Dante, and shook her head. "I know, I know... It just seems you don't like the fact other forms of alchemy that work can exist. And that you deliberately picked on my family, calling them crackpots. Maybe not that exact terminology, but that's the feeling I got." she shrugged. "I've gotten over it though. It's not like I need your approval of something that's not going to matter any more, anyway." That's when the next group came into the kitchen.

Clause-
She felt the hand on her shoulder, and the female's comforting words, but she shook her head. "It's not that he scares me... It's just that I didn't know what to expect from him..." She followed the female down into the kitchen, or what she assumed it to be, as there was food in there that people were taking. She noticed the officer talking to another female, whom she recognized as none other than Hikari.

Clause & Hikari-

Clause waved to Hikari, who nodded back. Wow... she's so grown up at her young age... what's with her...?[/color] she wondered. Indeed, to any who looked into Hikari's eyes could say that they're the eyes of an adult, of one whose seen many things not every adult has even seen. Hikari turned back to Riza and Dante. "Seems you two are in high demand..." she stated bluntly.

[silverviper2134]

Arden turned to her friends and smiled slightly. "Let's go home. I have a feeling something interesting is unfurling".

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There was a silence in the hospital room. A silence that was quickly broken by Nikolai. "Hey...Ami? Can you take your blood and rub it into your chest and hair?" he asked with the voice of a little kid asking for candy.

[dante]

Setting her mug down, she headed over to the fridge and took a carton of milk and some cream from the bottom shelf. She closed it, then made her way back to the counter to prepare her coffee. As she added a spoonful of sugar, she listened with disinterest as the girl began speaking to her. Noticing her newfound confidence, she smiled icily as she stirred her coffee, surprised that she had managed to grow a spine so quickly. Nevertheless, she was just as helpless and deluded as before.

"No offense meant, but that is a likely possibility. That, or they were scam artists looking for a quick profit. There's a chance that they were indeed the respectable scientists you claim they were, but I sincerely doubt that. Not that it matters, since my opinion is apparently worthless," she chuckled.

When Riza offered her ice cream, she offered her a faint smile in response. "No, thank you. If I don't lay off the sweets, I'll ruin this new body in no time."

She poured a bit of milk into her cup, then peered inside and added some more. It was far too dark, so she had to add quite a bit. Stirring it again, she closed her eyes and silently mulled over Riza's question. "Hmm.. It's been some time since I've done this," she hummed, reaching for the cream. "I'll have to speak with some of my associates." After a few more moments of stirring, she paused. "...Of course..."

"I may be able to circumvent most of the work, but I need a little more information," she told them, resting her eyes on Hikari. "You're trying to get into high school, yes? If so, I know someone who can get you admitted quite easily -- no documents necessary."

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Dahlia gave her a confused look, then nodded. "Hokays!"

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Ami gave the boy an apathetic look, unbothered by his grotesque request. "Something tells me he would get along quite well with my husband," she grumbled. "At any rate, I don't have any further business here, so I'll be leaving."

[silverviper2134]

The three children walked to the house, Arden leading the way. Once they stepped inside, Arden quickly noticed Clause. "Who do we have here?" she questioned, rubbing her chin slightly.

[amouri]

Barry gave Clause a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"It'll be ok, I'm sure we'll figure out some way of getting you safely away from that orphanage."

(( writers block))

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Sarai

She scooped some of the ice cream for herself and Claus, one scoop of each flavor. She handed the bowl to the little girl and then threw in her own two cents worth.

"Apparently this little girl has been kept in some orphan home. I have no idea if she has papers or not, but Barry and I want too look after her."

"I need papers as well, I'm sure they wont let me foster a child if I technically don't exist.

She noticed the young woman, Hikari. She looked so much older than her young age. Her eyes belied her true age with their sad wisdom. She knew that look. She'd been raised herself always on the fringes of acceptable society and saw women of all ages pass her on the streets to have their quiet meetings with lonely men from all walks of life. This girl had that look. But there was dignity and strength that somehow remained intact.

Riza

"Well, the sooner she gets enrolled the better. And Claus as well." she replied matter of factly.

She snorted humorously at the mention of keeping a trim figure. "Hmm..we should all be so lucky to look as good as you do at your age."

Kimblee

With Roze off to square away details with Scar, he decided it was time to put a bit of 'responsible' behavior into practice. He sifted through the contents of his wallet as he descended the stairs to the kitchen.

"Man..it's amazing how much cash I got in here when I don't gamble it away. I had no idea I made so much money." he snickered, removing several twenties.

Addressing Dante and Riza, he slapped the bills on the table, "You two ladies apparently wear the pants in this house, you figure out how it should be spent."

He looked at Claus with a wishful expression. The whole domestic experience he was going through shook all sorts of hidden desires out of the dusty areas that passed for human decency. He wanted kids of his own. When the hell did all this happen?

"I see you guys found the ice cream." he chuckled and gave Claus' hair a gentle ruffle, "Sorry I was mean to you earlier, little lady."

When Arden walked into the room and approached, he cast her a warning glance and placed a protective hand on Claus' shoulder. He knew Martels kids were bent, he knew all about being bent.

[silverviper2134]

Arden smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I won't hurt her. I don't hurt other kids....besides my brother and anyone who tries to beat him up except me." The young aspiring hitwoman walked over to Claus.

"Hello" she said, offering a hand, "My name's Arden Perelli. If I like you, call me Poke. If I don't like you....well, Arden works just as well."


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Nikolai glanced up at his mother, frowning slightly. "I wanna go home" he whined.


"Shut-up" Martel said simply, not in the mood to listen to her son complain right now.

[dante]

((OOC: Gonna wait on Rose before I post with Dante again. Also, I'm not sure if Magrace would actually be able to reassemble himself, but for the sake of the plot I'm gojng to assume he can))

Magrace slowly opened his eyes when he was confident that everyone had left the room. He immediately noticed that his armor was in pieces on the bed and groaned in annoyance. Although they did not know it, they had thrown quite a wrench into his scheme. Now it seemed that he would have to wait for someone to reassemble him before he began searching for his prize.

"Isn't this absolutely perfect?" he sighed despondently, clenching his unattached fist and slamming it against the bed. Quickly realizing what he had done, he gave his arm a surprised look. "..Ah, I see! Since my soul is binded to the armor, I can reassemble myself. Interesting..."

Focusing his mind on his right arm, he moved it closer and fastened it into his socket. Now that he had an arm to work with, he began putting himself back together. Once everything was tightened and back in place, he stood up and stretched, then looked around the room. "It's about time those fools left. I doubt I would have been able to tolerate their chatter for another moment... Now to find the Philosopher's Stone."

Making his way to the door, he opened it and peeked into the hallway. Fortunately, no one seemed to be out. He slowly crept out of the room and began making his way toward Dante's private study. He doubted he would run into anyone, but if he did, he would just subdue the fool before he could alert the others. It was risky, admittedly, but he had a feeling he could handle it.

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

Charlotte chuckled and smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll be able to go home soon, dear. Just try and keep your mind off it and you'll be out of here before you know it," she said comfortingly. "Well, I don't want to be a bother, so I'll head out now. Take care, you two."

[velinda]

Clause and Hikari-

Hikari heard the female, and sighed. "I know that possibility. I just don't want to embrace it. If you had parents you adored, maybe you'd understand, too." She then heard the rest of what she was saying. "I guess that'd be appropiate for my age, right? And I might need a private tutor on things like geography and history, though." She looked to Riza. "Nice to see your in good spirits." Through this, Clause had been quiet, listening to the female, when Arden came in. "Ah... I'm Clause, from Linter." (That's right, right? Haven't seen that episode for while, so...) She took the female's hand and shook it. "I won't try to hurt you or your brother. I don't know if I could, anyway." Hikari looked at the female that came in with interest. She seemed so... confident. "It's fine... you were in a hurry, right?" Clause soothed the male, flinching slightly as a reaction to his ruffling her hair. However, when he clamped down on her shoulder, she pushed him off. "Even if I can't take them down, I can hold my own. No thanks to Majhal." She sighed, and Hikari flinched. That man was no better than Tucker, in her opinion. Finally, Riza's opinion that Clause should be in school caught up to her. "What school would I go to, then...?" she asked, apparently unaware of Middle School. "I don't think I can go to High School, since I'm not as old as Hikari." Hikari gave a sigh. "Middle School. Bit younger." she said plainly, which calmed Clause down a bit. "Oh..." Hikari leaned over to Riza and whispered in her ear, "Thanks for not asking where the money came from..."

OoC: By the way, when does night happen in this house? I've been Rp'ing here for a bit, but I don't think we've had night yet in... how many months? XD

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Riza

While she hadn't let on, she had an idea how young women could make money if there were no drugs involved. She simply didn't want to entertain the idea of someone so young and tender doing...that. But when the young woman more or less confirmed her suspicions in so many words, she cast her a sidewise glance.

"We should probably take you to visit the doctor, Hikari." she said, matter of factly, "Most schools require their students to have a clean bill of health before admitting them." She cast her a private, yet meaningful glance.

Kimblee

It irritated him a bit that the youngster brushed him off like that. Maybe he was being a bit too protective. All the same, she was a small girl for her age and he had no idea she was old enough for middle school. He probably embarrassed her in front of her peers. All the same, he'd be keeping an eagle eye on the kids...and if he ever caught Nicolai with a girly magazine, he'd grab it, roll it up like a newspaper and smack him with it. Jesus! Did his mom even know what went on with her kids? And where the hell was their dead beat dad anyhow?

[OoC: I know, the days are loooong here! Why, it was only earlier in the day that Roze and Kimblee were dallying in the closet and went to the park where he proposed to her. God, how many months ago was that? Unfortunately for Kimblee, he's experiencing the passage of time the same as we do. xDDD

Zolf: Dammit! How many months does it take to propose and elope the same day?? DX ]

[velinda]

(I'll wait for Dante and them before posting as Clause again)

Hikari-

Hikari heard what the female said to her. She also got the glance. Maybe she shouldn't have said what she did, because now she knew what she was trying to get at. Now, after she didn't want her to know, because if... something was found, it could ruin her chances at school. Or for friends. She sighed, and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Should we go now and get this over and done with?" she asked, forsaking the rest of her ice cream and standing up. She gave a glance at Riza, which more or less said, Thanks for being caring. Even if she didn't act like it. She exited the room, and waited for the officer in the living room. If she had anything else to say to the others, it probably wasn't her business, and if she wanted to say something to her about... that, she could probably say it when they were more alone. After all, Hikari didn't want to say that in front of everyone, and was glad Riza didn't bring it blatantly foward the real reason for going to the doctors...

[Scar]

Scar turned and looked at Roze with a quirked brow. "Today?" he repeated. "Thats a rather hasty wedding. Are you sure you want to do this so soon?"He inquired, trying not to show his surprise.

[velinda]

Roze blushed at his remark. "I know it's a bit hasty... but... I don't know. It's as if I want to do this before I have a chance to change my mind. I mean, I like him... but I don't know if I should..." She looked away from the scarred man. She didn't know why, but when he spoke, especially about something like this, she felt like she didn't know much of anything. "I-if that's okay with you... that is... If you'd rather do it at a later date, that's fine too." Great, now she was fumbling her words, and being somewhat redundant. What was really going on with her feelings...? Even Roze didn't even know. "And... I don't know what I'm supposed to feel... I mean... he was the man who murdered a lot of our ancestors... but at the same time, if you get underneath that, he's not such a bad guy... I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think, Scar... It seems like I'm just going with what I think is right at the moment, without really thinking about later. I've only really felt this way once before, with Cain. Why it's with Kimblee now... I don't know..." Once again, a blush crept up onto her face as she looked away from Scar, her hands clasped together in front of her chest...

[Zolf J Kimblee]

They had their backs turned and didn't see him when he stood in the doorway, listening to their conversation. He shifted his feet uncomfortably to let them know he was there.

His eyes were full of hurt indignance and he was silent a moment before he swallowed the painful lump in his throat. "So...that's how it is, is it?" he said, voice cracked with emotion. "You feel like you gotta rush before you change your mind?" his eyes were full of disappointment and bitterness, "And here I thought you were just as anxious as I was for us to... belong to each other."

He closed his eyes, lowering his head and shaking it as he held up a finger. "Look..." he said evenly, "If you got doubts, you best either disabuse yourself of them now, or just forget I ever asked you to marry me. I don't need no woman having regrets later. If you marry me, it's for good, you got it? I don't just want a woman to share my home and my bed..my life. I want a woman to have my kids. And that woman can't have any doubts about wanting that."

Sarai

She looked to Barry, wondering if he had any suggestions. He'd been here awhile, surely he had citizenship by now. "What about you Barry?" she asked, "How did you get legal in this country?"

[OoC: Suggestion: Maybe Barry could just make a couple calls with info about Sarai, Hikari and Claus (age, gender etc...) and we can circumvent the red tape of actually RP'ing that part]

Riza

She pulled Hikari aside to talk to her in private. "I'll make a call to the clinic. They don't ask for names or identification.. it's all anonymous for privacy's sake."

"You know," she added, "You're a child.. a young woman, true, but still a child. No one in this house will expect you to contribute money. Just do your schoolwork and help out with cleaning."

"I strongly suggest you not keep making money the way you are now. They have diseases in this world that don't exist on the other side of the gate. Diseases that will kill you and have no cure."

[amouri]

((Gah I think you'll have to figure something out without me guys. I've been a bit busy lately and haven't had the motivation for posting D: I'll try and figure something out.))

[Scar]

The Ishballan looked between Roze and Kimblee, out of place in this conversation. "You two need to talk, it seems." he noted, making his way towards the door. "Consider it a preperation for actual marriage. Speak to me when your sure about what it is you are doing." Leaving them to their own devices, a new thought popped up in the priests head. Where was his daughter?

[dante]

((OOC: Sorry about the wait! Don't have much time, so zis is gonna be a quickie, and lemme know if I missed anything. ><)

Dante cast a glance at the money Kimblee had left on the table, quirking a brow. She wondered where he got it, but she would get to that some other time. Hearing them speak about Clause and her education, she turned back to them.

"Yes, middle school would be the best option for you," she hummed. "Getting you in shouldn't be a problem. I'll contact my associate later on and he'll come over and sort everything out."

[velinda]

Roze-

Roze turned and saw Kimblee in the doorway. She hadn't even known he was there. And then she said all that in front of Scar. She was trying to find out what she was feeling, but... did Kimblee understand that. She stood, not sure of what to say to the man anymore. "I-i'm... just in a swirl. I... I don't know... what to think... If you heard that... you heard my reasoning... Please, I... I don't know... I don't know..." She fell onto her hands, and started to cry. "I... just don't know... anymore..." Suddenly, she stood up and ran to the female's room, and opened the door to throw herself on one of the beds, and started to cry loudly. However, only people just outside the door would hear, since her voice was muffled by the bed she was crying into...

{Post as Hikari later.... And how the heck did I become a Mod? Heh... a lot of stuff happened over my absence, eh?}

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Kimblee

"I don't need to talk!" he snapped back at Scar, ears burning red. "I know what I want."

He was pissed. He knew what he wanted, but Scar was right as much as he hated to admit it. He listened as Roze stuttered and stammered through her words. He felt the lead weight sink in his stomach, and felt defeated. No woman, no decent woman, would ever want a crass douche bag like himself.

He turned and went up the stairs. He hesitated at Roze's closed door, knocked quietly and said, "Roze... I love you. I don't need no one to tell me that. I don't know what the hell you want. When you do know, let me know."

With his head down, he sulked off to his room. He sat on the bed and turned to the white suit that was supposed to be his wedding clothes. He let the fine silk run through his fingers thoughtfully before letting it fall out of his hands. He flipped open the velvet ring box with the two gold bands. He snapped it shut and suddenly stood up and threw it, hard, at the mirror, smashing it to shards.

"FUCK!!"

[velinda]

(Still waiting for Arden's response)

Hikari-

Hikari listened to what Riza said. She sighed, and looked to the female officer. "You know... I... I needed the money. I didn't know what else to do. I knew it wouldn't be safe... but if I had no money, wouldn't I die anyway? Not many people wanted to take me in... and I've asked..." She looked away from the female. "And thank you, Riza-san..." She took a swallow, and started up again. "I'm fine if you don't want to... but could you adopt me... I'd like to have a fother like you..." she said with a blush. "But for now... how soon can we go..."

Roze-

She heard Kimblee speak through her own crying, which was muffled even for her. She continued even after he spoke, and flipped herself over into a sitting position. Her crying wasn't as hard now, but it was still coming. It was even quieter than her muffled crying that she had been. I... I thought I had loved him... for his innocence underneath... how he'd fall for me... someone he'd used to fight... He's changed... but part of me is scared, too... What do I want...[/i] Her tears stopped as she looked down to her knees, where her hands where balled into a fist. She thought for a while, before she stood up. I know what I want now...[/i] Her face showed something she hadn't had moments before- a set determination. She walked to where the boy's room would be, where she would find Kimblee. She knocked on his door without hesitation, and the knock was a bit louder than she meant to have it, which made her flinch, but then her face was set again. "Kimblee... If you're in there, come out. I have something to tell you that I can't tell you face to face."