Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:23:22 GMT

OHMYGODSMOKERISINSAAAAAANEEEEEE.

And apparently psychos who dress up in bat costumes are good for catching pirates. The metal throwing star shaped like a bat is a little overkill, though.

Hey, Al! Logann's been trying to get into Smoker's quarters again. Can you take care of him? Maybe steal someone's shoelaces and show Nina how to drag it along the floor so he'll chase it.

Oh, yeah. Sorry about the mess in the galley, Smoker. The cook called me short. (Al... you mind helping me get rid of some of the damage? I don't think the cook likes lancet arches in his kitchen. His reaction to the gargoyle sprouting above the stove was hilarious, though.)

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:55:01 GMT

I found this little guy in the storerooms late last night. Any chance of us keeping him, Smoker? Al's really attached to cats and I think Nina would like it.

EDIT: Meet Logann-- the newest crew member on the Lady Justice.

Log tiem~

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:23:04 GMT

Who: Cancer McCancerton [ justicesmoked ] and Shorty Van Shortshort [ edsplosion ]
What: Ed's angsty about Nina, Smoker is inspiring and such. :|
Where: Smoker's ship~
When: Right after this post.
Why: Because I said so.
How: Magic and unicorns.

WARNING: Contains spoilers for the FMA anime. :|

(Follow the massively fake cut~)

Ed sighed and rested one hand on an automail palm as his left hand doodled in the margin's of the book he was supposed to be reading. He scowled as he looked at the absent-minded doodles-- a little girl with pigtails and "magic flowers." His lips curled into a snarl and he grabbed the book before hurling it across the room and stomping over to the porthole.

Nina. Of all the names Smoker's daughter had to have, why did it have to be Nina? Ed rested his forehead against the cool glass and watched the waves below toss and turn. "Nina..." He let out a choked, bitter laugh as his mind drifted to a bloody silhouette on a brick alley way.

Smoker, if not anything else, was an observant captain. He watched his men like a hawk, though none were usually aware of it. The constant thickness of the air was always blamed on the Commodore's unhealthy obsession with tobacco and none were brave enough to really speak the wiser. So, when there was a disturbance below deck, the Commodore was on it. Tendrils of silver shifted under the crack of the door and Smoker reformed, cigars clamped in his teeth, He pivoted by Ed and bent down to wrap leather-clad fingers around the thick binding of a book.

"Tsk," Smoker spat, eyes rolling shut. His thick boots padded across the floor as he made his way to the man's side. He placed the book on a nightstand nearby, carefully aware of the preciousness of such an artifact.

Back up against a wall in no time, the Commodore folded his arms across his thick chest and his hairless brow furrowed. A scowl twitched on his lower lip. "If you have a problem with my daughter, boy, you best keep it to yourself." A low growl rumbled in his throat. "But I do doubt that is the issue at hand, no matter what you may say."

Peeling open his eyes, Smoker narrowed daggers to the form now pressed against the glass to his porthole. "If you let that take hold of you, you'll never make it on this sea." He tore his gaze away and turned thoughtful but menacing eyes at the adjacent wall.

"No matter how far you run, it'll follow you boy. It is best you speak before you're consumed by it."

Ed let the Commodore's words wash over him. "It's... it's not your daughter, Smoker. It's..." he trailed off and he placed clenched fists against the wall. He tensed and the melancholy stare turned to a glare. "I don't want to talk about it. I can deal with it," he spat out from between clenched teeth before turning the glare towards Smoker.

Booted feet stomped on the wood floor as Ed grabbed the book and plopped heavily back in his chair. "I've got to do some reading if you don't mind leaving, Captain."

Smoker watched with mild distaste as the boy had a fit. He snarled, fingers dragging thick tobacco from his mouth. They were pushed out on the heel of his boot before being discarded out the porthole.

Marching after Ed, the Commodore snatched him by the collar. "Listen," he managed, eyes tense. "I don't give a shit what you think - this sea will consume you if you don't get your head together, Ed." He released the boy after a moment and growled thickly. "If you can't be open to me, your captain, then you will fail and no one will be able to pick up the pieces. You can try to be tough, but I will break you. Do you understand? This ship isn't for pent up little shits who think they know everything about anything."

Smoker's knuckles instantly threaded and he cracked them out of sheer frustration. "I don't want someone weak on my ship. So you either talk about this now or I show you out the door and you fail. Do I make myself clear?"

Ed glared heatedly at Smoker, his lips pulling back. He was like a caged and cornered animal. Except he had the sense to know that he had to back down, if not for himself then for Al.

"What do you know about chimeras and human transmutation?" he asked. He didn't expect him to know much so he pushed on. "When I was studying for the State Alchemist exam back in Amestris I stayed with a man named Shou Tucker-- the Sewing Life Alchemist. He had a little girl who was about six years old with pigtails named Nina."

Ed pushed Smoker away and sat down heavily, staring at his knees. "He... he had to pass an examination of his own to keep his certification. He wanted to make a chimera- the merged form of two or three separate animals- that knew the human tongue. He did it... he made one... using his dog Alexander and... and..."

He buried his face in his hands and his voice came out choked and mumbled as he threw out the next words. "He used his own daughter. That son of a bitch used his own daughter. She... she was going to be used as a test subject so I broke her out of the truck she was in but... she ran away and... I couldn't... all that was left... was a bloody smear on the alley wall when we caught up with her. Scar... he'd... he'd blown her up from the inside out."

Ed shoulders shook just a bit as his mind drifted to Nina's smiling face and her cries of "Magic flowers!!" and "Little big brother!" He clenched his fists in his hair. "She was... she was six years old. Just six years old..."

Smoker stood and he listened. Girl with pigtails. Nina. No wonder the boy was twisting up inside. The Commodore's own growl was loud enough as Ed went on, as he told the story of a twisted father, of a man who sold his family for a high position. His hands fell to his sides and he twisted his neck, causing it to pop.

A shame the man wasn't around. Smoker would have a word or two with him.

Turning on his heels, the Commodore grunted and took a seat next to Ed silently. He leaned back and eyed the ceiling; there was a leak he would have to fix later. Probably from the bathroom corridor.

"Six years old - Nina is about that age. My Nina," he corrected, eyes slightly blank. "We all make choices - some are more ruthless than others."

The Marine reached into his pocket and pulled out two fresh cigars. Shoving them into his mouth, he lit them with a single flame and sucked long and hard until he could feel the smoke burying itself in his lungs. Then, he released it in thick streams through his nostrils.

"That is why I exist. I could give less a damn about the brass and the rules they have laid out for us. Justice is all that matters to me - your Nina will get her justice." He rolled his shoulder back and grunted. "That is, if you cut this shit and move forward. Carve yourself your own brand of justice, boy. Bring some good back to the world and I guarantee her soul will be at peace knowing there is still some good left in a world gone backward."

With that, Smoker pushed a palm against the floor and righted himself to his feet. "You're eating with me tonight," he said, calmly. "I have my meal on deck. If you aren't there, I can't guarantee how good you'll feel tomorrow morning."

Ed just stared at the floor. His lips twitched and he gave a derisive laugh. "Justice. What good does justice do her? She's dead, Smoker and her father's in some shed in the middle of a forest, living as a chimera himself with a little doll that was supposed to be Nina. With... with the Philosopher's Stone he was supposed to be able to bring her soul back from the Gate. And now he's just living out some delusion that he has his daughter and everything's right.

"What good does justice do her? What good does justice do Al? He lost his entire body because of me... because I was too cocky and thought we could do what alchemists have been trying and failing to do for centuries."

Golden eyes flashed as they turned to Smoker. "All I want is to set things right... to give Al his body back and I can't even so that. So what good does your justice do me?" he asked bitterly.

The Marine stopped, body slightly stiff. "Justice is what sets things right; she may be dead, her father may have not been given the right end to his existence and your brother may be suffering. But what good does it do to sit here and do nothing? To cut your losses?" He turned, logia now tearing away from his spine. "Will you sit there and pity yourself? Is that your payment? If it is, you aren't worthy - you have no right to call me captain."

He paused and shifted the cigars in his mouth. "If you truly believe in your brother, in Nina and in everything you stand for, you'll get up right now. You'll stand right now and make a promise."

Smoker turned fully. "It is not my justice you must swear by, for my justice is not you. You must swear by yourself boy, to swear by those you care about. Death does not negate someone, Ed. If you think so then you have no hope."

He stared at the Commodore for a moment. He could see the strength this man had, he could see it in his bearing, hear it in his words. Ed could see why his men followed him so wholeheartedly and he had to smile. "If death negated someone completely, I wouldn't be here," he said quietly before standing.

Shoving hands in pockets he gave Smoker a cheeky grin. "You know... back in Amestris I was a Major. I don't know about here, but that outranked a Captain."

His mood sobered again and he stared at Smoker thoughtfully. "Thank you," he said simply. He looked around and quickly grabbed something off the end table. It was a ring of silver flowers. "Give this to Nina. I have a feeling she'd like it."

Smoker turned and hissed. "Here, Major is below Captain boy. You don't outrank me." The cigar tips crackled as Smoker angrily chomped on them. "Don't get cocky about anything. I don't have a problem putting you on laundry duty."

Shoving a hand into his back pocket, the Commodore huffed slightly. "I'll make sure to give them to her," he said as he took the flowers in one hand. "I'll tell them they're from shorty."

"They're magic flowers Al and I used to make for our Ni--" He cut himself off. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists as veins in his forehead throbbed with his restrained temper. He couldn't flip out at Smoker... not now, at least. "Not. Short."

Smoker snorted. "That's the only way she knows you, boy." Bits and pieces of himself started to break off into his logia; it wasn't long before he was a thick cloud of smoke. Seconds later and he was under the door.

Though, what was odd about the entire thing was that it sounded as if he were laughing, if not just a little bit.

"WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING HER YOU GREAT WHITE BASTARD?!?!?!" Ed yelled after Smoker.

He glowered at the door before looking to the other ring of magic flowers on the end table. He picked them up in his hands and twirled them thoughtfully. "Justice, huh..."

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:06:51 GMT

Having Smoker's kid on board has been... interesting. It... brings back memories. ~~She better not start calling me little big brother like Nina did.~~

Hey, Al... Think she'd like the magic flowers we used to make?

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:44:24 GMT

Hey. Which of you is the Marine Captain that's got Al? I need to talk to you.

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:33:01 GMT

I'm on an island with a jungle and purple birds that go "JIYO." And Al's nowhere around. ~~And I may have gotten something lodged in my automail. Winry's going to kill me.~~ Has anyone seen a six foot tall suit of armor walking around on an island with ruins that answers to Alphonse?

Ed Elric

Log tiem~