(Old) IC Contact Post

[al_truism]

[ooc; Please use the new contact post!]

Comments

[al_truism]

Slowly.

I went and chopped down trees and pulled up the trunks with Xerxes a few days ago. It helped work off some of the destructive mood.

[thelightbringer]

Anger. It's so productive. Even more than acceptance is.

[al_truism]

Oddly, that's exactly what he said.

[thelightbringer]

Sounds like him.

[Winking at Al.]

You know, he and I are a lot more alike than you'd think.

[al_truism]

[Which is terrifying, considering how much Al loves Break.]

But you took such opposite paths.

[thelightbringer]

[It explains why Lucifer seems to be so attached to Break, too, doesn't it?]

Did we? You know what he did for his family.

[al_truism]

He did. And it backfired on him. Terribly.

[thelightbringer]

Yeah, well, it wasn't really my goal to end up in Hell, either.

[Hell wasn't the worst of it. Losing his family--like Break had--was.]

[al_truism]

He took something different from it, than what you did.

[thelightbringer]

His beloved Father didn't design it specifically for him. It's the little details, don't you think?

[al_truism]

Your dad doesn't sound as nice as people make him out to be.

[thelightbringer]

People seem to forget that He'd turn them into salt, or murder their firstborns, or feed them to each other if He wanted. He was never nice. People just wish He was.

[al_truism]

... yeah.

[thelightbringer]

Anyway, if you want to talk about Him, Yuca's a better source. [No less bitter, just more human.]

Did you get any visitors? The event?

[al_truism]

I have talked to Yuca about Him. A lot.

... ah. Yes. My parents, Winry, the Colonel, my teacher, and Maes.

[thelightbringer]

Your dad. How awkward is that?

[al_truism]

I don't... really know how to feel about it. I'm happy that he's here for my Mom, but I don't expect anything to come of it.

[thelightbringer]

Mm. Well it's not like you need him anymore. You've taken care of yourself longer than either of your parents.

[if indeed Al had ever needed a father.]

[al_truism]

... that doesn't mean I never wanted a dad.

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer's expression is soft--for a moment it's as gentle, as understanding, as he had been before he left.]

No. No, there's a difference between what we need and what we want.

[al_truism]

[Damn it, Lucifer. Moments like this are when Al has to work not to like him.]

Even if I grew up okay, I wonder how it might have been, I guess.

[thelightbringer]

I think everyone who's lost a parent wonders. Longs for it, even. And the funny thing is--even if you can find out for sure what it would have been like, it's not quite enough.

[al_truism]

I don't regret the person I've become. I think it made me stronger.

[thelightbringer]

I'm not exactly objective, but I think you're right.

[al_truism]

In this place, being able to handle pain, being able to shrug things off and be pragmatic is going to help me more than a longer childhood would have.