.001 oh brother, where art thou?

[snacklist]

[A: 624 Topper Street (Closed to housemates)]

[As far as Alphonse remembered, he had gone to sleep in Albright Lane with his mother and brother in adjacent rooms. It had been a harrowing Christmas after Ed... after he... no, best not to think about it. What was important, was that they were all getting back on track.

Until he woke up here.

The pictures on the wall were different, a different mother and was that... GREED?! He knew the homunculus was here, but they certainly hadn't had much to do with each other. If he was in the house, then what about--]

MOM!!

[She's not here, she's not here! His heart is thudding wildly as he searches through the whole house for either family member. Sorry if you were sleeping Erika and Greed, your new not!son has arrived.]

[B: Around Town (Open to All)]

[There is a teenage boy hurrying through the streets of Mayfield today, pink cheeked and puffing for breath as he sprinted down the road. Every so often he stops someone, anyone who isn't a drone, and catches their arm urgently.]

Um... excuse me. Have you seen a boy with an automail arm and leg, and a really kind woman? I've lost them.

Comments

Action ☆ B

[handsforhealing]

Oh! [ Winry is startled when her arm is grabbed. She turns, expecting someone she won't recognize, and is surprised to see it's Alphonse of all people. ] A... AL!

[ You're getting a hug right now. Don't fight it. ]

<333

[snacklist]

[He had been too anxious to really notice who he was flagging down until she turned, and then he only had a split second of realisation before he was being hugged.]

W-Winry!

[handsforhealing]

You idiot! We've been so worried! [ But she doesn't sound very angry. Winry won't even let him out of the hug yet. ] I'm so glad to see you..!

[snacklist]

I'm sorry, I just woke up there.

[He's assuming Ed and Mom sounded the alarm that morning when he had been missing from the house.]

[handsforhealing]

Woke up there? You mean your house, right? [ Winry assumes he's at the same house. ] So I guess you know...

[snacklist]

Not in my house, Winry! Mom and Brother didn't tell you I wasn't there for breakfast?

[So why was she worried?]

[handsforhealing]

Huh...? No, I... Al, what do you mean...

[ It takes her a moment. He doesn't realize Trisha is gone. He woke up in a different house. She's been told that this sort of thing happens sometimes after people come back from being droned. ]

Al... Al, let's take a detour before class, okay? I need to talk to you...

[snacklist]

[Why did she have that expression on her face? She looked as she did whenever Ed got himself really beaten up, right before she beat him with a wrench and pretended not to be crying.]

...Winry?

[handsforhealing]

Come on, okay? [ She takes his hand, not so much to keep him from backing out but to keep herself from getting scared. She can't even begin to imagine how she's going to tell him everything that's happened. ] There's nothing good going on in class today anyway. I'll treat you to something for breakfast.

[snacklist]

[His stomach rumbles, completely in agreement with this idea, but he shakes his head firmly.]

We have to find Mom and Brother, Winry, they'll be worried about me.

[handsforhealing]

Yeah, Al... [ She bites her lip, not sure what to do. How is she supposed to explain to Al that Trisha is gone again? ] They're... probably worried. Al, um... First, we need to talk, okay?

[snacklist]

[He stops in his tracks. He wants to go running off, but he can't make himself leave her when she looks like that.]

What is it, Winry?

[handsforhealing]

Al, listen, it's... [ Should she let Ed handle it? That seems too cruel. Ed probably took Trisha leaving really badly. Winry can't imagine how painful it would be for him to have to tell Alphonse that she's gone. It's going to hurt both brothers either way, of course, but if she can spare them even one tear...

She looks Al in the eyes. ] Your mother, Al. Mrs Trisha... she's... [ Winry's eyes water. She hates saying it. So much that she has to give Al another hug. ] She's not here anymore.

[snacklist]

[He freezes in that hug, unable to process what Winry has just said. How can that be true? Surely she can't be gone... she must just have woken up in another house like he did, that's all!]

But... I was only gone one night.

[He saw her last night before he went to sleep, how can everything have changed so quickly?]