Does killing boredom make me a murderer? (Open any)

"W-What...?" Tsune stammered, staring at her in sudden shock. What on earth was he letting her do!? He continued to ask himself this, but he did nothing to stop her and sat there watching like an idiot. He was frozen, his heart pounding in nervousness, but he still reached for her hand none-the-less. Having no idea what she was doing nor what to expect, he clenched his teeth and watched. Seeing the blood though, opened his mouth once again. "What the hell?!" He glared at the red liquid that was his own, trying to will it to go back inside. Go away! When that didn't work, he continued: "It was probably because I could barely pay the bill and didn't stay there more than a few hours so he decided to do a shitty job." Tsune frowned at his rather cruel assumption and looked up into her eyes and what he found there...made his heart skip a beat.

Atlacia allowed him to hold her hand as she looked detemindly at the wound, her other hand holding a glint of silver. "Okay.. 1... 2... 3.." She whispered and grimaced sympathetically as she flicked on a flame and thrust it in the wound. She hated seeing people in pain more than anything, but when it came to this kind of a situation.. drastic measures had to be taken. She squeezed his hand in a comforting way as she chewed nervously on her tongue, worrying about the pain he might be going though. This was a medical procedure they did back before even stitches were invented. It was very affective, but unfortunately it was excrutiatingly painful. She pulled it away after three min utes and sighed "That should do it... Do you have any fresh bandaging?"

UGH she counted!! He hated when people counted just like before they gave him shots when he was a child. It made him so nervous. Anticipation! Clutching her hand tight right before she said three, he quickly slackened it so he wouldn't squeeze the life out of it when he felt the pain. It was pure agony that seemed to resonate throughout his entire body. He clenched his eyes shut and took deep breaths to keep from yelling out. Then when he heard her voice, he slowly drifted back to himself and opened dull blue eyes a crack. "Damn," He breathed, looking down at the terrible wound. He was shaking slightly as he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a roll of bandages. He had brought them just in case he needed them. When he realized he was still holding her hand, he quickly withdrew, a small pink hue alighting his cheeks. "Thank you." He managed a wavering smile, and wiped the sweat from his forehead, laughing nervously. "Now I really owe you lunch."

Atlacia laughed "No payment required for my services." She took the roll of bandages and began re-wrapping the wound with the clean fresh, whiteness. Her eyes hovered on his side as if she couldn't take them away. When she was determined, she tended to zone to the point where her surroundings ceased to exist. As she finished, she wiped her own brow and pocketed the lighter, standing up. Smiling, she offered her hand to help him up. "Anyways I bet you're parched after that experience and now that you're not bleeding perfusely, we can focus on getting some eats." After major things like that, you needed something to lighten the mood. Atlacia could always find a way to make someone smile. It was her goal in life, every smile made her feel like she mattered and that she had accomplished a greater good.

And she was certainly good at it, well, at least with Tsune. He laughed wholeheartedly at her words and took her hand again to stand up. Pushing more of a blush away, he grinned to cover it up. "We're ordering everything on the menu and taking home what's left!" He declared, raising his eyes and their light returning. The sky was so bright and the air felt like summer was clinging to the edges of autumn. Yesterday was cold, but today there was heat in the air. It made everything all the more exciting. He hoped that Atlacia and himself could become good friends. His first friend since moving to the city! "Ne," He began while he followed behind her on the sidewalk. "Do you stay at Central, or a different Head Quarters? I move around a lot myself--so I'm just wondering."

Atlacia dusted him off out of habit and smiled, pushing up her glasses, "Sounds good, but you'll be eating most of it!" She teased with a playful grin. As she began walking he asked her about her location. She sighed "Naw, unfortunately I live in East Headquarters. I work at the Central library for now, but should war errupt I'm to immedeatly take to the hills and run since I'm apparently the equivelant to a whole library." She shrugged and sighed. "I live in an apartment not too far from the boarder line. It's a military-sponsered dowm so it's not too great." She felt suddenly nervous. How was she able to talk so much?! And about her life? Usually this subject was as blank as her secretary's face.. and THAT was pretty blank... "You?" She asked, deciding to change the subject quickly.

"Nah, you better eat some too~" He said, watching her shadow on the sidewalk beside him. He waited for her to finish. "You, a whole library? ...hmm...I wonder how they cram all those books in there?" He asked, pretending to look her over carefully. "No, but that makes sense. Well, when you come back here, be sure to drop by and I'll do the same. Libraries have to get boring without readers~" Tsune joked. He caught sight of the Chinese restaurant in the distance. "For now, I'm staying with a friend in Rush Valley. She's having family issues, so I decided to help out. But I move around a lot...usually all over the place." It was true, one moment he was in Central and the next he would be in Rush Valley. The traveling never ended, but at least he got paid for it so he wasn't about to start bitching. Plus, he loved helping people and it also wasn't bad that he got so much recognition out of it. Even now people had started noticing him and calling him Raiu. He was now the thunderstorm alchemist. The prospect for becoming a State Alchemist was growing brighter!!

Atlacia smiled "I moved around alot as a child, but now I prefer being more rooted, beside I'm living with my bestfriend." She laughed "We may have our spats but I can't remember life without him!" She laughed. Spencer was strange at times and they DID argue over who got the last Dr. Pepper too often it seemed, but they practically fed eachother, like a rock needing another to keep it in place. They had support for one another and God knows how much Spencer needed it for his job! She looked at Tsune with a grin, "So do you like chinese or are you just a mind reader?" She asked in a mock-suspicious tone. Was it that obvious? Probably. As for how they managed to fit a library in her head... it was still a conundrum for even herself! She smiled again at the thought of sweet and sour chicken, but suddenly looked surprised, "Huh.. Never seen this one before.."

"I'm a mind reader." Tsune said, widening his eyes and trying to look scary. "Haven't you heard what they call me around here? I manipulate brain waves and translate them into thoughts. The know-everything Alchemist~" He laughed. "Well...actually I'm a picky eater and Chinese is one of the foods I really like." He smiled at her and walked up the the door leading to the fancy-looking restaurant, opening it lightly while trying to ignore the dull ache in his side. "I was rooted to one place my whole life so now I'm moving around a lot. We're the opposite~ That's great though, friends are something that you should never lose. Unfortunately...I haven't got someone like that." He flicked up two fingers at the dolled-up waitress and nodded when she said two. "Hm?" Tsune turned back to meet Atlacia's eyes. "You've never been to this place before? I haven't either...I hope it's good."

Atlacia laughed "The know-all alchemist, huh? Sounds like what my name would be if I ever learned alchemy!" She grinned and pushed opened the door. "Good I couldn't live without Chinese, I swear. It's not an addiction." She teased. As she stretched her arms and legs some, the jopints in her knees let off a loud crack, causing her to blush, embaressed. "I hope so too, I only found one bad chinese resturaunt around here, so they're usually pretty good." As she let him walk in she whispered "How's the pain? Do you need advil or something? I always carry some on me." She was naturally concerned about him. She considered him a friend or atleast a close acquaintance and she wanted him to be comfortable. "If you want I can take you home so you can sleep it off.. I don't want you hurting yourslf on my watch."

"Haha, that would be a great ability...if it were possible," Tsune laughed. He followed after the waitress behind Atlacia to their table and let her pick where she wanted to sit before sitting down across from her. "Mmm grease! It IS an addiction, I agree with you there. My favorite is the chicken wings. Just the way they make them is irresistible," He laughed at her cracking knees and settled back on the cushion booth. "Ahh~ Well, I've felt better, and advil would certainly help." He winked, shaking away annoying pieces of hair that had become untamed again in the wind after she had brushed it. "No-no! Anywhere but home!" He joked, fiddling with the menu in front of him. "I'm fine, no need to worry, though it does make me happy to know that someone cares." He nodded, sure of himself, but hoping he wasn't talking too much. He normally wasn't this much of a talker. He felt relaxed with her though... "I'm not very used to people paying attention to me, you probably know this, but I grew up with 29 other siblings!!"

Atlacia stared, wide eyed, "Holy cow! 29?! I'd kill myself." she laughed lightly. "I can barely stand my own 5." She shook her head. She HAD tried to kill herself, she just failed miserably many times. Note to self, strangalation does not work upon oneself. She sighed and laughed. "I never got into alchemy, I know the base and everything, I just.. never thought of using it. I don't fight because well... I can't" She smiled softly as she looked around the resturaunt observing the people. She was being stared at and she felt uncomfortable because of it. Shifting in her seat, she pulled at her sleeves again and sighed, looking at him softly, "So do you like poetry? Or novels? What's your literatural forte?" She asked casually, resting herchin on the backs of her hands, but avoiding his eyes.

"Well, clearly, as you know...I almost did!" Tsune smiled, making a joke out of what he had done in the past to earn him his Automail arm... It seemed like such a horrible thing to do, but he was really over it, excepted it. It was useless to cling desperately to the past and whine about it. It was done, over. And now he was going to enjoy himself even if it involved making fun out of that horrible experience that would still haunt him for the rest of his life. He looked up, surprised at her. "You got five? Wow that's a ton. I mean they're all not related to me by blood...but I had to deal with all of them on a day-to-day basis." Tsune nodded sweetly at her next words and placed a hand on her head, saying seriously. "Don't worry, Atlacia, you have people like me to fight for ya." He then grinned a teethy grin and let his hand fall back to his menu that he didn't even need to look at. He blinked at her next question, having to think about it some. "I can't choose. What I enjoy the most is novels, but hand me a deep poem and I'll stare at it for hours. I'm not really picky; I've read almost every genre. I say almost since new ones are being invented everyday!"

Atlacia smiled brightly, "Aaa I know what you mean! So much knowledge is to be gained from the world. Everyday there is a new slice and you have to seek it out. There truly is a real truth but to find it you must learn as much as you can!" She looked over the menu and folded, then decided to be strange. Placing Tsune's hand flat on the table, she grabbed a pepper shaker and began sprinkig it on his hand. She stared softly and spoke quietly. "Information is like the flecks of life. Your hand is life, the pepper is knowledge... it's spread throughout the branches of veins, covers our skins and it's the base of everything we know and love."

-comments- I've actually done that XD

"Hah, yeah, and I'm sure that's what you've been doing with that great memory of yours. I just wish I could remember certain things..." Tsune frowned. He forgot the stupidest things sometimes, well, actually...when it was really important he usually remembered, but still it would be convenient to be a hard drive of information...Also, dangerous. He watched as she took his hand and placed it on the table. When she took the pepper he was slightly confused and stared at her until she explained it. Hm... "I see...very interesting concept. Well, I might like it better if it was like this..." Tsune reached over with his other hand and began gathering all the small pieces of pepper into one place. "There. That's better. Much easier to understand now," He laughed, "If only life was like this instead I'm sure there would be much less suffering."

The waitress chose that time to prance on over to take their orders, bowing down to hear what they wanted. "Ah," Tsune looked up at her and threw a glance back at the menu. "I'll have a coke and the fried wings, thanks."

Atlacia smiled, glad that someone understood her theory at least remotely, but blushed whenthe waitress shot daggers at her. Shouldn't she be used to this by now? Shifting and putting up the menu as a barrier between anyone's eyes and her face, she let her chestnut brown locks fall over her face, keeping her from sight as much as possible. "I'll have sweet and sour chicken with a side of plain rice and a Dr. Pepper please." She spoke softly, barely a whisper. Sometimes she felt so unwanted, so shunned and litterally cold from the glares that people thrust upon her. Wincing as the woman snorted and scratched it down, she realised why this woman scared her so much... she remninded Atlacia of her mother.

Tsune shook the pepper off his hand and placed it over Atlacia's in order to get her attention. She seemed to be suddenly shunning the world ever since the waitress came. He ducked around her menu to stare at her incredulously before lifting the paper shield away and tossing it at the waitress. He had a habit of throwing menus. This at least scared the glaring woman away, allowing for Tsune to then breach the next shield. He gently pulled apart Atlacia's hair to peer at her face and when her eyes met his, he grinned like a child playing peek-a-boo and withdrew back across the table.

"She scare you?" Tsune asked with a slight laugh and then added in a rather scary tone, "I can go kick her ass for you."

Atlacia laughed nervously. "That obvious?" She fiddled with her sleeve nervously again. "She just reminds me of someone is all.." Looking at the table she tried to shake her bangs back in front of her face. "Someone I wish I could never forgive." Aa tear dropped onto the table. Atlacia bit her tongue. Why? Why did she still hurt about this? 12 years later and she still felt like a defenseless child. And here again, she was crying. She sat still hoping that if she didn't move she would become invisible once again. She sighed loudly and clenched her eyes, another tear falling. "Sh-shit my uhmm.. mascara is in my eye or an eyelash or something.. bathroom." she stood up and turned to hurry off. She would cry in quiet.

Shit. Shit. Tsune clenched his fist under the table, watching the tear fall and hit the wooden surface. Woah, woah, woah. Okay, sort this out, Tsune. She saw the scary waitress and she reminded her of someone she wished she could never forgive... It was something in her past that made her really upset. And she didn't want him to know about it because she lied, saying that she mascara got in her eye. He knew mascara. For god's sake he had an endless supply of sisters! With lightning speed, Tsune's hand shot out from under the table and he grabbed her hand so lightly that she could pull away if she really wanted, but firm enough for her to understand that he wasn't about to let her run off and cry. No way, no how; Not on his watch dammit! Tsune frowned at her, not sure what to say so he looked down and then looked up with an unnervingly sad expression. "Atlacia...please don't cry." He reached out with his other hand to try and brush away her tears like he had on so many other occasions with his siblings. That was it...she reminded him of an older sister, which ironically he didn't have...

Atlacia jumped when his hand grabbed hers. She shook her head, trying to hide her face better. With a weak smile, she wiped her eyes and laughed meekly, "I-I'm not crying.. I-I just really need to get this thing out of my eye." She was so much stronger than this! How could she possibly show such weakness? Shivering slightly from her shot nerves she sighed. "I'm not going to cry." she repeated in an almost monotonous chant. "Shan would be sad if I cried I have to be strong and keep the past in the past." she had no inkling that she was speaking aloud and clenched her eyes tighter. "I'm sorry Tsune I... I'm so weak.." She wanted to just curl in a ball and sob. Feeling fragile. It was an awful sense. She wanted nothing more than adark room, a corner with doors locked and a knife that noone would find.

NO. Not happening. Tsune's frown increased tenfold, and he led her back to sit down, hoping for her sake that no one had seen her crying. "No, it's okay Atlacia. I don't know who Shan is, but I'm sure that he wouldn't want you to cry either. Plus, you have to live for today." Tsune nodded with a reassuring smile. "I know for one how...horrible the past can be... And let me tell you that if you look ahead to the future everything sort of...gets a little brighter. It's enough to wipe away the tears and face the dawn per say." He laughed. Well, maybe he sounded stupid, but he sure as hell was trying. He looked up in time to see an Asian-looking waiter approaching with their food. He placed the food in their respected seats and Tsune went to sit down in front of his food. "Atlacia it'll be okay, I promise. Life will only get better. For one, look at this delicious food~"

Atlacia was silent at first, but slowly she managed a smile, He was right. She needed to look towards the future, not the past. Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she stared at her food and took a long swallow of Dr. Pepper. "Shan's uhmm well." Atlacia blushed and shifted in her seat like a shy school girl. "Kind of like my high school sweetheart." She looked away and fixed her glasses as she poked her food nervously with a fork. She looked much better, as if she hadn't been nervous, scared or crying in the first place. She managed a cute smile as she day-dreamed out the window, blinking a few times coming back to earth. "So do you have any love interests? I'm sure a wonderful man like you has a special someone." She smiled brightly, warmly and encouraging. She was a very accepting girl. Accept when she caught someone cheating... God did she hate cheaters....

Tsune's happiness was clearly apparent on his face when he saw her cheer up at his words. For once he was thankful that he had much experience with cryers and could easily handle the situation. Despite his experience though, he couldn't stand seeing people unhappy. When Atlacia smiled, he couldn't help feeling the relief wash over him. He took a long sip of his soda while he listened to her. Ignoring the blush creeping up on his face at her words, he laughed embarrassingly. "Haha, thank you, but no, no I don't." Wiping silver strands from his eyes, he grinned to cover the blush and took another drink. "Maybe someday, but it's great that you have someone like that. You gotta smile more for him, I'm sure it'll make him happier." Tsune winked and picked up one of his chicken wings, twirling it around. After a pause in the conversation, he broke the bone and started pulling off the meat in order to eat it. "You know, this may sound strange. But I feel so open with you, like I'm talking to an older sister. And no, of the 29 siblings none of them are an older sister." He laughed, with a calm smile, putting the chicken into his mouth. And damn was it good!

Atlacia could detect the blush, but she didn't press issues. She just smiled softly, laughing lightly, "You don't know how many times I've been told that." She grinned, popping her own chicken in her mouth. "Mmm~" She revelled the taste and blushed at her outburst. "Anyways, most people say I'm like a mom or an older sister. Usually I can keep my composure, but it's been a while since I cried so I guess it's made me slightly all-the more fragile." She insecurely fidgetted and pressed a bang behind her ears. "Well at least those who call me that, are the few who get to know me." She stared out the window again, as if something in the distance was a wonderful site, something transfixing. "Most people avoid me, they say I'm scary looking." Shaking her head she sighed and rested her chin on her palm, "But I just shrug it off."

"Scary looking?" Tsune stared at her in question, raising an eyebrow. Certainly he couldn't picture it; she didn't look scary to him at all. He frowned a bit, contemplating this as he feasted on more delicious chicken until hardly any remained left on the plate. Wiping his mouth on the napkin that had been on his lap, he sighed. "Hardly. I don't get where people come up with these ideas. Now if you were the Mind-reading Alchemist...that would be scary!" He laughed faintly as he chewed on his metal fork. "And maybe it's just your nature that make people think you're like an older sister. I think it's a good thing." His eyes shinned intelligently at her as he thought about this seriously. "It's a warm feeling, not a scary one that's for sure. Well, that's how I see it." Tsune said with a soft voice, holding some emotion. He then finished off his soda and began breaking another chicken wing as if he hadn't said anything that needed a reply. He only hoped that she may take some of his words to heart and that she wouldn't cry for a long time again.