someone left a cake in the rain

[rewritethis]

[BANG. BANG.]

Dash! Dash!! Open up!

[Doorknocking this violent isn't an uncommon occurrence around this particular dorm, especially accompanied by that voice. What might be a bit more notable is that the sound actually seems to be coming from somewhere close to the floor. Yes, closer than usual. In fact, knocking probably isn't the right word...]

Comments

[elementofloyalty]

[Well, the compliment is really, "you move better with metal limbs than most people do with normal ones"...]

What happened to it? What do you mean?

[rewritethis]

[But why would he pick up on that when he has the opportunity to brood about something? Or, well, reminisce, since he's actually in a relatively good mood. Must have been all the screaming at her.]

Not really to it so much as what it's doing here at all. Last thing I remember from back there, I already didn't know where it went. [He looks down at his foot one more time, then goes back to busying himself with his laundry.] But that's fights for you. They aren't all as pretty as the comic books make them out to be. And it's not like my mechanic needs any more excuses to murder me, so like hell I'm complaining.

[elementofloyalty]

Wait, you actually LOST it?! How did you LOSE it?!

[Rainbow doesn't realize they aren't permanently attached, and hasn't made the connection that one could lose a metal limb without consequence, relatively speaking.]

[rewritethis]

What's so surprising? Automail's no different to any other machine. Sometimes it breaks. [...he says, scrupulously avoiding any suggestion of agency.] Not so different to a real arm or leg either there, when you think about it.

[elementofloyalty]

[She shudders, shrinking a little.] Ugh, that's way too casual a way to talk about that sort of thing.

But it must be different when you're more used to it, huh.

[rewritethis]

[This here is a more standard (that is, not nearly as friendly) grin than the one he had a moment ago.] Why, you squeamish? Just be glad I'm not telling you about the operation.

[elementofloyalty]

[She ducks her head, rubs a hoof through her mane, then looks up at him again.] Tell me about it.

[rewritethis]

[He pauses halfway across the room with an armful of shirts, apparently thinking, but not for long.] Nah. Sounds like it'll be funnier leaving it to your imagination.

[Which is purely a jab at her, and not at all a circuitous way of saying he doesn't want to recall more of it than he has to. Duh.]

[elementofloyalty]

Oh ha ha. Well if you ever decide you want to talk about it and not be the Secret-Keeping Alchemist, I wanna hear.

[rewritethis]

[Hey now, that's someone else's title...]

Since when were you into that kind of thing? Did you pick up a medical textbook while I wasn't looking?

[elementofloyalty]

I don't care about the weird details! I just... I just want to know what it was like for you.

[rewritethis]

[He shrugs as dismissively as he can without dropping his clothes, as if to say yeah, sure she does.] Over quicker than the rehab. It had that going for it.

[elementofloyalty]

Well I wanna hear about that part too. I can't even imagine what it's like to learn to walk again, but I wouldn't be able to even TELL if I didn't know.

[rewritethis]

[He still looks a bit sceptical.] You're not that worried about losing a leg, are you? [It's his best guess at why she's suddenly interested...]

[elementofloyalty]

Please, are you kidding? I'm way too tough.

[She thumps a wall with a casual backhoof, just to make it rattle.]

[rewritethis]

Then you don't have any reason to care. [And, again, back to his laundry.]

[elementofloyalty]

[Rainbow blinks in surprise, then frowns.]

...the fact that you believe that says so much about you, Ed.

[rewritethis]

[For a minute, there's no further sound out of him except the rustle of folding clothes.

When he does respond, his tone is markedly matter-of-fact, almost clipped.] It hurt. [Another pause, heavy with the unspoken snippets of less concise descriptions he's pushing aside.] But you could've guessed that.

[elementofloyalty]

Yeah, it's funny -- healing always seems to hurt more than actually getting hurt to begin with.

[She has experience in this, after all.]

[rewritethis]

You'd call that healing? That implies anything like it would've happened naturally.

[He hasn't stopped shuffling around, putting his clothes away.]

I didn't even know if it was another mistake or not. I could've told them to stop. Wanted to, a few times. But each time I started thinking that, all I had to do was remind myself how little any of it meant. And that made it okay.

[elementofloyalty]

I'm trying to imagine how bad it must have been for stubborn you to have wanted to stop. I'm not sure my imagination is good enough.

[And having zinged him...] How little it meant? What do you mean?

[rewritethis]

I'm alive, aren't I? So when you look at it objectively, it wasn't that bad. That's something worth remembering in general.

[elementofloyalty]

[She opens her mouth, stops, thinks, closes it again, and thinks some more.]

...Yeah, that is a good point.

[rewritethis]

Just don't ask how it felt subjectively.

[He looks down.]

It was worth it, though. I could've sat through the whole operation twice over if I'd had to. It still would've been nothing.

[elementofloyalty]

Yeah, it must have been really worth it in the end, right? Being able to walk and use your arm again.