maskormenacelogs | [Open] We'll murder them amid laughter and merriment

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[Open] We'll murder them amid laughter and merriment

WHO: Dr. Crane and YOU.
WHERE: ImPort Clinic, Nonah.
WHEN: March 1st till March 6th.
WHAT: Crane's available to talk to about all your problems. He might be probing and prodding, and trying to perceive your fears at the same time. Or maybe you're just housewarming?
WARNINGS: Psychological discussions of a personal note.

It wasn't the most personal office Crane was sitting in, but it was one he knew people'd come to visit nonetheless. He'd deliberately chosen the decorations of his abode in as little time as possible. Clean and traditional, the office was sterile with few home comforts; there wasn't a single telling thing that could reveal something about himself.

The walls were charcoal grey, like the floor, which Crane had attempted to desharpen by having workers lay a muted cream carpet with a black border. He'd unceremoniously placed a yucca tree in the corner, next to a tanned suede couch. He'd had his chair moved opposite, in which he was currently reclining, with a green-upholstered antique footstool in the middle. The old table on his right had nothing on its surface - another hint at his drab nature. Or his fastidious cleanliness. His even older desk was shoved up against the far wall and supported just a lamp, a password-locked laptop and some notebooks. There was a single shelf of books compared to the wall-to-wall library back at his residence - with only a thin copy of The Murders in the Rue Morgue nestled deliberately between the spines. An eagle-eyed visitor would notice the discreprency, and in turn give him an opening into their psyche.

It was an uncomfortable place to be blocked in, with only Crane's blue eyes watching. He didn't particularily care - it was a place to learn and talk. Making it his home was illogical.

Someone rapping his door pricked his ears. He stopped reading and set his book on the table before rising to answer and lead his visitor in. The light from the ceiling-to-wall bay window was flooding the room and making it feel larger than the box it was.

"Thank you for coming."

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"Not quite," Crane states simply.

He leans forward attentively, and while his mind's analyzing every word and facial gesture - and dissecting and denoting what might be useful later - he's not inattentive to what's under the surface. It keeps him on the edge of his seat. In a way, he's concerned about what's troubling this man - but he's honest enough to himself to admit he's motivated by curiosity and need.

"A year's a long time. Long enough to create new memories and friends, or to avoid them, if you feel the need for that. It's long enough to go delving into memories and forgotten experiences." He tilts his head a little. "I suppose it's a long time to be alone, too. Do you have family back home?"

Edited 2015-03-12 17:35 (UTC)

"My brother is still back home. Along with Teacher and Sig. But you're right. I guess I've made some friends since I got here. People I trust."

A few, really. Which is possibly surprising given Ed's usual short temper and impatience. He's improving as he gets older but those are both still ever present. Along with his usual bluntness, but he's trying. He gives a shrug, considering and finally admitting.

"It's a long time. Longer than I've been anywhere in one place the last few years. Let alone without Al. Having certain people around from home doesn't necessarily help as much either but I'm trying to keep moving forward."

Crane begins linking things in his mind. The young man is defensive, protective, and keeps his special relations as close to him as he can without becoming involved.

He's already clued in and knows why this subject's doing what he's doing. The snorting and flustered expressions tell him Ed fears rejection, something common in many people. It's a delightful little fear to explore. Rejection from the most special people in his life. Rejection of everything he's done for them. Losing their trust. And the worst of it? Receiving their hatred and blame.

Those relationships being taken away terrify him. He fixes his glasses, mirroring Ed's hand as it runs through his hair.

"Certain people?" It's an attempt to pull at a frayed string of information that had been freely offered.

Pull hard, pull it apart.

"Well, one in particular, really. You might have heard about him with the bombings and around the network in general prior. Zolf Kimblee, the Crimson Alchemist."

No point lying about it when if anyone asked it would be obvious the rest in the military, Winry and Greed are allies and friends in comparison in terms of those here from home. He's definitely had issues around rejection, what with Hohenheim having left when they were kids without any explanation at the time, his inability to let go of Trisha once she passed on, that fear of whether Al hated and blamed him for what happened that night. He's more than a little lost without his brother but he's not completely alone. And he knows he keeps that promise back home.

Crane quirks a brow at the name. He knows something of Kimblee, perhaps - or perhaps he's been doing lots of reading?

"I've heard of him," he responds. "I've heard allegations of what he's done."

His hands fall to his lap. His fingers clasp the top edge of his book, then he's flicking through the pages, looking at his notes. His inner expression curves into a smile. He thinks of the link between Kimblee and Ed and himself and Batman. It's amusing. It's ironic. It's curious.

He flicks his gaze up at Ed, a short while later.

"Do you want to talk about him?"

"You really want me ranting about him? He's--he's another alchemist but he's not exactly a friend to say the least. He put Winry in danger and I nearly got killed fighting him back home. I'm still pissed at him. That's nothing new."

Or, it probably isn't if Crane has been keeping that close an eye on the boy after their initial chat. His taking Winry as a hostage, the fight at the mines where Ed just couldn't bring himself to finish it, under-estimated Crimson and nearly paid for that with his life when he was impaled as he fell from the explosion Kimblee caused with the second Philosopher's Stone.

It's obvious Ed isn't to thrilled on talking about Kimblee either, but at least in some ways it takes them off the topic of Winry and his feelings for her. If he tries not to think too much on how furious he was when she showed up at Briggs, a hostage used to ensure Ed's obedience. He watches Crane with the book, the notes, but doesn't say anything on that.

Crane looks sympathetic, though it's measured by his professionalism. There's a deep need to investigate where this can go. An innate search for knowledge - an academic fascination that's becoming impossible to sate these days. A need, some would say death-wish, that's only sated when he's in an encounter with the Batman.

He leans forward with what seems like honesty in his eyes, eyebrows raised.

"So you've had problems in the past. Do you expect problems now?"

"Pretty much. It won't surprise me. Already sort of had a fight with him after the last bombing when I tried to confront him on it."

So. Yeah, he's not anticipating Kimblee being here as ever a good thing that he can just ignore. Especially when he's already used Winry against him in the past back home. Ed could understand the desire to learn, to experiment. But there's a limit, as he found with Tucker. He sighs, lips pursing for a moment.

"It's complicated."

Crane's noticing that frustration. It keeps him close - but there's a small, respectful distance. Something to keep Ed calm. He knows some people who visit need a mental barrier to feel secure. There's something limiting about working within the constrains of such limited thought. But he's as patient as he looks - barriers are all destroyed, in time. He's happy to wait.

"Complications just mean our choices have depth. What is the heart of the matter for you? You're scared of him, perhaps? Or perhaps you're terrified of the damage he can do?"

"I'm not scared of him. More scared of what he does to everyone else."

To Winry. To anyone who might come across him and have no idea what the guy is capable of. The bombings already have caused enough destruction and chaos. But he's sure there is likely more planned, and Ed isn't always there in time to stop it before people get hurt or killed. It's a long story, their history together back home and he's already shared some of it over the network, previously only really gone into detail with Winry because she confronted him about the leak over the network about him being impaled.

"He's used others before as hostages, has killed. He probably wouldn't hesitate to do it again."

Crane doesn't really give a damn.

He's quite willing to see Kimblee take hostages and commit murder. It's not even the acts or the perpetrator that fascinates him. Perhaps it's the thrill of having someone under his thumb. Or perhaps it's the creation of a perfect environment for his experiments that excite him. It's useful information - he mentally denotes it for later. He'll have to watch the two closely.

He's also quite willing to encourage Ed to stand up to a very real and terrifying problem.

"Probably to your friends and family. I suppose he is the type who hides his true nature. But this doesn't fool you. What stops you from confronting him pre-emptively? It would resolve your issue."

"Considering last time I confronted him he broke my arm. And the time before that when I fought him he nearly killed me. I'm not thinking the next time would go well either. And both of those, I came out pretty lucky."

Not that Ed isn't something of a naive optimist himself at times. It's just that regarding Kimblee he's aware of the other alchemist's capabilities. If nothing else, it's one thing for Crane to latch onto, given Al's absence here and Ed's reassurance that things work out. That he restores his brother.

"But I can't just let him keep at this. I know what he's capable of. Not that I even know where he is, necessarily, to confront him if I did choose to. I did try tell everyone though."

"It sounds like not a lot of people listened to you," Crane says softly. He sounds so emphatic and concerned, and seems to show honest fascination in his eyes - was his patient really in so much pain? A burning, gaping wound - and everyone believed a doctor when he said he wanted to heal it.

"Still. Last time, did you ensure you had the element of surprise?"

"Well, some did. They just don't necessarily understand how he does it. How alchemy works, exactly. What he's capable of."

The whole situation with Kimblee has Ed frustrated enough. Has him anxious as it is, and chances were he wouldn't even be entirely relaxed if he was in jail. He'd been let out before, after all. Even if that was because he was working with the homunculi. If police were to try apprehend the alchemist themselves, it couldn't go well. Let alone the worry of his interest in Winry, back home and here.

"I.....didn't really. No. I just wanted to try stop him. Make sure he doesn't go for another bombing."

And if there is a next time, chances are Ed's impulsive short temper would kick in again, given the situation with Winry, of course.

It's a fact Ed doesn't seem capable of hiding his frustrations well - Crane picks up on it, it's language he picks up well, thinks about quickly, and hurriedly works through his mental processes before choosing where he would plant his seed. He believes that frustration is born through fear, the fear of helplessness, for the most part, and that it eats away at people.

"Maybe you should act before there's a next time," he says coolly, offering what seems like verbal salve to heal Ed's itchy problem.

"Maybe. I don't know. It's just....I don't know."

He got lucky, the last couple of times. This time he might not. Even if he might have others to back him up. Doesn't mean Kimblee wouldn't go for it if he thought killing Ed might help somehow. Especially when he knows it was the death of a kid that sparked the Ishbal war. He'd probably be tempted to see if the same could happen if something were to happen to Ed. Heck, while out East when he met that group of Ishbalans they had a similar idea until they actually talked to Ed and they found common ground over the Rockbell family.

"Next time it might not just be my arm getting broken."

"That's the danger you live with," Crane says softly. "Of course, it could be worse."

Crane doesn't need to press the issue any more. He has, however, gently inflected his tone to point Ed's thoughts towards his friends - and Winry in particular. And the thought of your loved one being in danger? Crane had studied fear - and this fear in particular drove men to do reckless, brave and terrible things to cut it out. Or they let them die and lived the rest of their lives in self-perpetuating misery.

"It could. Doing something would be better than doing nothing. At least I've tried to warn everyone. And I'm trying to keep Winry safe."

Which might not always be possible or as easy, but he tries. Ed is already a rather reckless and short tempered teenager, so it never takes much to get under his skin. To set him off into a rage if certain people or topics might come up. Like Kimblee.

"I've talked to some people. I have help if and when we decide on dealing with him ourselves outside of letting the police take care of it. I just don't want them going after him and being completely unprepared and killed."

"Of course."

Crane doesn't care, honestly.

He can only imagine how scared the local population must be of somebody like Kimblee. Of imPorts like them. Or rather, scared of their power. imagining was so close to seeing. The border between dreams and reality was fear - and he'd learned to embrace his fear a while ago. He just had to destroy Ed's barrier a little, now.

"Do you trust these people then? To keep Winry safe?"

"I have a few friends, from home and ones I've met here that I trust, yeah. Can't help but make some connections after you've been here as long as I have."

Which of course he's been all the more paranoid of with recent events with Kimblee to say the least. But still, it's obvious how much of a danger, a risk that the other alchemist is. He might not like Mustang, but Ed does trust his superior and knows he'd do what he could to help keep Winry safe. The same way Ed or Al would for Riza. Like Al had, when they were against Lust.

Crane's tone draws level with Ed's - contemplative and cautious, with a mix of other emotions he's been observing.

He waits an ample moment before crossing his left leg over his right. This just means he'll need to put in a little more of an attempt to draw out some more things. That's all right.

"I suppose so. Still, I believe it's entirely possible recent events have tested your faith in people, personally. I would have believed it's only human to have a little doubt. Don't you think so?"

Edited 2015-03-30 00:25 (UTC)

"Doubt? Maybe, for some people I might not know as well as those from home or those I've known longer while here."

But Ed's still naive all the same. Still trusting in spite of all he's been through. It's something he strives to keep, even if he's not quite so trusting as his brother. Losing that would really mean being entirely alone without anyone to depend on. While he has some period of being on the run, that's still not the life he wants. Doubt is human, sure. And so is Ed.

"I mean, I'm trying to have faith in you here aren't I? That you'll help and not blab to everyone."

"I'm here trying to help you, am I not? I could have turned you away. I would have referred you to another psychiatrist. Now. If our conversation isn't helping you, you strike me as a vigorous young man who'd stand up and march right outside."

He's fingering his journal again, and while his mind works on the doubts Ed's having his mouth's repeating the same words Ed's is giving. He was an easy target and he wasn't going to show any pity. Repeating the pattern in what he's saying is deliberate tactic to mirror any darkness Ed's hiding, almost.

"Faith does not prove anything, Ed. You can never really know someone completely. You can only believe they'll do the right thing."

"I would. I don't like wasting time. Mine or yours. If I thought I'd do better to stay in the library researching, I would. Figured this was worth a try at least."

But then, he's stayed even this long, which is something. It may take a little time for Ed to properly open up, but he's trying. This would surely be better than talking to Winry about every minor thing. Every time he woke from a nightmare, or every time he argued with someone.

"It proves plenty. At least, to me. I have to trust others, if I want them to trust me. I mean, it may take a bit more for me to in comparison to Al, but still."

"I suppose so..." The way his voice trailed, the way it seemed to withdraw from this questioning.

Most would find it relieving. It stops them squirming, stops them defending. It stops them being anxious in the most subconscious ways - but that's never what he's after. He wants to keep them in a state of panic. And that's always why he, should he think it worth the risk, shocks them by getting back into the swing of things.

"Why is that?" It was an innocuous little question, with no weight behind it. But the thoughts behind it were quite numerous and grisly.

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