(open) mission: hit the beach

[aithinkthereforeaiam]

Date & Time: July 18th-24th, Exsilium Time
Location: Sea Shore during the Late Cretaceous Period
Characters: All! Oh those pesky mandatory missions.
Summary: In lieu of the success of the space shuttle's test flight, all of the Transports have been sent back to the Cretaceous period to gather mineral supplies and volcanic rock, while doubling as a sort of 'vacation' and chance to get Transports out of the Initiative's hair. With well stocked supplies, camping gear, and more burlap sacks than anyone could possibly ever use, the Transports have been set under a protective dome and told to collect what they can... and to enjoy the sunshine.
Warnings: Shenanigans!

The overflow log can be found HERE!

It's almost surreal, the quality of color, of light, of oxygen saturation in the air once people arrive. It's so rich that the Initiative sent people back with respirators, to help ease the transition, and warned those who would listen about the effects of too much oxygen on a system.

What they don't warn for is the sheer alien familiarity of the landscape, the warmth, the roughness of the sand on the beaches. This is not the fine, sandy beaches out of vacation dreams, but a rougher, larger granule sort, with shells that might be recognizeable as ancestors to ones those from Earth would remember washing up on familiar beaches, millions of years later.

Most striking is the lack of abundant wildlife found among the fronds and leaves and foliage, or underneath the surface of the saltier, much warmer waters extending off the beach. While acting as a permeable membrane to oxygen and water, along with the sorts of phytoplankton that kept sea creatures alive, all the larger animals had been pushed out by the Initiative's installment of the safety dome. Along the transparent walls, curious creatures would come close, peer in, tap against the barrier and run off if frightened, but very few were found inside at any size larger than that of a house cat. It was for the better in the long run.

Too bad that the Initiative didn't have ultra-violet blocking technology in their shielding. For all the atmosphere is in much better shape millions of years in the past, the sun is as strong as ever, and the unwary will be burned through and through if they're not careful.

Comments

[imperfect]

Ugh, don't get me started.

[As he trudges up to Al with an empty sack over one shoulder and flops onto the ground not too close by, Ed seems just a shade less steady on his feet than normal. The only concession to the heat he's made so far is unfastening the collar of one of his usual shirts, and that probably isn't helping him much, but it's not quite the only reason.]

One mission. One damn mission up a mountain or something. Is that so much to ask? [There's no way it could be anything but an improvement, right?]

[alphonse]

[He's heard enough murmurings from the crowd to gauge that the heat is pretty brutal even to those without automail, so he can't really begrudge Ed his moodiness. Al doesn't even make a mental note to give him a hard time once the inevitable mountain climbing mission does come around. Still!]

I know it's really hot out here, but there aren't many missions where we can take it easy like this. You should make the most of it and at least try to relax. After all, [He pats the overly full bag beside him.] I'm sure I can gather enough of this stuff for both of us.

[imperfect]

Yeah, yeah. [He attempts to give Al's nearest leg a less than gentle (but, again, slightly unsteady) dig with his foot.] S'easy for you to say, Al. What d'you think I've been trying to do?

[He sighs, and something else occurs to him.] Oh, and you better not be gathering up any dinosaurs to sneak back while you're at it. I know one or two of them made it through.

[alphonse]

That's just mean, Brother. They'd practically cook if I tried to put them in my armor right now.

[He's way too cheery and willing to pretend that's the only reason he hasn't already amassed his own personal hoard of baby dinos.]

Anyway, I'm surprised you're not more excited about them. [He gestures to the barrier.] Some of the big ones look like something straight out of your imagination.

[imperfect]

Really? [It's such an off-the-wall thing to say that for a second he's distracted enough from his own discomfort to squint out through the barrier.] They just look like a buncha lumbering feathery monsters to me. Or - well, no, I guess that'd be more like a nightmare... [That's one thought he doesn't finish out loud, at least.

He scratches at the side of his head.]

Actually, I know. You could come back with me and help me cook the next idiot who says I look underage instead.

[...Nobody has since they arrived here. He's sure a couple of them were thinking it earlier, though... unless the weird looks were because of his refusal to take his gloves off or something, but what are the chances?]

[alphonse]

[It's the lack of defensiveness that cinches it, and Al is left to contemplate a universe where, rather than outgrowing it as he'd suspected before, Edward Elric simply never had garish taste to begin with. Somehow, even on a beach surrounded by dinosaurs, that might be the most bizarre thing he's witnessed.

Huh. For now he keeps the observation to himself, and listens with amusement rather than sympathy.]

Are you really complaining because someone guessed your age wrong by a couple years? A lot of people would take that as compliment, Brother.

[imperfect]

[He scowls.] Not the way they were looking at me, Al! [Or with the main reason he suspects they would! But neither his indignation nor the fact that he was already more sprawled across the ground than sitting manage to stop him from morosely deflating a little further.] Like I've got any less right to hang around there than the rest of them. Hell, I'm not going in the water, I oughta have more right than them...

[Eventually, he sighs.] Ah, well. Guess there's no point complaining about it to you. [And he prods at Al with his foot again.]

[alphonse]

[Al looks down at him with increasing scrutiny.]

Just what have you been getting into?

[imperfect]

[If he needed a reminder of what a defensive Ed does sound like, this would be a pretty good one.] Don't you start with it either, Al! It's bad enough coming from people who don't know any better!

[alphonse]

I didn't say anything about you being too young.

[Though knowing that Ed is an adult and truly thinking of him as such are two entirely different things.]

Since when do you drink?

[imperfect]

[He looks up.] Huh? Just since Alfo- since Heiderich and the others... [He stops, irritated.] Hey, it's not like it's a habit.

[alphonse]

[The unfamiliar name provides a distraction from getting annoyed over reasons even he realizes are unfair, but just barely.]

Wait. Heiderich and the others?

[imperfect]

Yeah, them... It wasn't always just work.

[He moves on noticeably quickly.] Anyway, there's more than enough to go around.

[alphonse]

You'll have to explain more than that, Brother. I've never heard you use that name before.

[imperfect]

Oh, so now you want to hear about all of that?

[But despite how he says it, the look on his face isn't nearly as annoyed as it is hunted.]

I was just... I just meant Alfons Heiderich. You know, that other you. That was his name.

[And even if he hadn't already tried to change the topic a couple of times, the sentiment couldn't be clearer.]

[alphonse]

It's a good a time as any. We've got all week here, don't we?

[Is alcohol really what it takes to get Ed to start divulging details? He never would have guessed.]

There's something I want to ask you about him.

[imperfect]

There is? [It would take a lot more alcohol than this to make Ed any happier about the question, and it shows - but what else can he do besides up and walk away?]

[alphonse]

Yeah. You said something before...

[Between the hesitating and the not looking at Ed directly, his question can't be anything pleasant.]

I'm sorry to bring this up, but I need to be sure. Did he really die?

[imperfect]

[...Maybe walking away would have been the way to go after all.

He's silent for a long while, staring at his feet.]

I know why he did it now... or I can guess, at least. No way to be sure. But I still don't know what the hell he was thinking.

[alphonse]

[That doesn't seem to fit with anything else he knows so far, but Al's getting used to Ed's answers always raising more questions.]

It wasn't just because he was sick?

[imperfect]

Well, in a way... But yeah, it's not what finished him off. [It's a little late to consider lying about the rest, so he plunges on.] A bullet did that. I... wasn't even there.

[He hangs his head.]

...Why the interest all of a sudden? [It takes a lot of effort for him not to sound accusing.]

[alphonse]

I'm sorry.

[There's some solace in knowing that Ed didn't actually watch the other him die, but it's still confirmation that in two out of three worlds he hasn't managed to survive. Odds like that aren't exactly uplifting.]

Wouldn't you want to know? [He pulls off neutral fairly successfully.] You're usually pretty vague when you talk about him.

[imperfect]

Not really. It took me too long to see it, but he wasn't you. And there's a lot I would ask, but... I can't be anyone apart from me.

[He laughs hollowly to himself.] Still, equivalent exchange... Maybe I should.

[alphonse]

I know, but we're still connected in a way. It just seems important to understand.

[And essential to learning more about where Ed's coming from, but that part he conveniently leaves out.]

I don't have any crazy worldhopping stories you don't already know about, but you're welcome to ask me something if you decide you want to.

[imperfect]

See, the only problem with that is, where do I start? How am I supposed to imagine another me as an actual person, not just a face? I know that if I met him, I'd want to punch him in it for not coming to find you sooner, but that doesn't count for much. [He keeps his voice light all the while.]

Honestly, I never really told Heiderich about you either. Wonder what he would've said.