a camping we will go

[sniptuck]

[ Anyway so one day a bunch of nerds went camping and it went exactly like this the end.

To be more precise, close to the lake on Floater Island a nice lil camping spot has been made! There are a couple of tents next to a campfire. The campfire even have logs arranged around them for that authentic camping experience? You sit on the logs, obviously.

A large variety of snacks have been brought over! There are hot dogs that can be roasted over the fire (made out of... some... animal idk use your imagination). Most importantly, they have marshmallows and chocolate to make s'mores! Because that is the most important part of camping. Clearly.

Mingle with other crew members! Wander around Floater Island and pet birdogs! Tell scary stories by the campfire! Fall into a ditch somewhere and have to be carried back by your crush like a stereotypical shoujo heroine! etc etc have fun ]

Comments

sticky business

[superseding]

[ Hotaru does find Al intimidating from a distance, but a hand covered in marshmallows helps to diminish that impression. She's undecided if Al's someone who likes wearing armor all the time or actually is some kind of magical suit of armor. After meeting Fi, she can't jump to any conclusions. ]

Um, I can help, if you need it? How do you usually clean your armor? Water won't make it rust, will it?

[armoured]

[He jerks in surprise, and then sheepishly lowers his hand since he's been seen making a fool of himself.]

You wouldn't mind? I just can't seem to get it off myself, and it'll be hard washing it with just one hand. Water definitely won't hurt the metal, though, so don't worry about that.

[superseding]

I don't mind. Please wait a moment. I think someone has cloth napkins somewhere... I'll be right back!

[ A few minutes later, Hotaru returns with a container of water and some cloth napkins (bless the fabricator). She dunks a napkin in water and holds out her hand. ]

Can I see your hand?

[armoured]

[He holds his hand out completely obediently, there's marshmallow all over the leather and metal of his left gauntlet to make it sticky and disgusting.]

I don't think I was expecting it to do that, I've never seen one of these before...

[superseding]

[ Hotaru wraps a finger for a few seconds, hoping to dissolve some of the gooeyness before being more precise and scrubbing at the leftover residue. ]

Is it just the marshmallows you don't know? [ And not the graham crackers and chocolate? ] Where are you from, can I ask? Or is the better question when?

[ She's not sure about the history of marshmallows, but maybe it's a more modern type of confectionery? ]

[armoured]

Is that what they're called? Marshmallows?

[What kind of ridiculous name is that? But at least what she's doing seems to be working, albeit slowly.]

I'm from a place called Amestris, but I don't know anyone other than my brother here who's heard of it, and the year is 1915. Why do you ask? What year is it here?

[superseding]

I think it was originally made from the sap of a plant called that, but I don't know what it's made of now.

[ What did Hajime and co. find or do to make marshmallows here on Iniidae? Hotaru doesn't know. ]

I'm sorry. I haven't heard of Amestris either, and I don't know the exact year but there are books in the library published in the 22nd century, so it's... very futuristic. I'm from 1993.

[ But that's also based on the assumption that URSULA'S calendar works the same way her world's does back home, and Hotaru doesn't know if it does. ]

[armoured]

Wow, really? 1993 sounds amazing enough, the 22nd century is almost unbelievable.

[He sounds more interested than sceptical, leaning forwards while she works her magic on his hand.]

What was it like back at your home? I'm guessing you had marshmallows, huh?

[superseding]

[ The marshmallow covering his hand is much less gooey now. She switches to another napkin to start clearing it off. ]

I've been here for a while, and I still find it a little unbelievable. [ As much as she's gotten used to living on Iniidae, wrapping her mind around being in the future is still a bit odd. ]

Yes, there are marshmallows at home. I didn't eat them often, but it's a common food you can get at almost any supermarket. The technology at home isn't anywhere as advanced as what we have here, but it's not too far a jump that it's all alien.

The planet I'm from also isn't covered with as much water. What's your home like?

[armoured]

[He can't help but wonder if this is the natural progression that technology will take even on his world, where things like this are completely unbelievable to him.]

Nothing like this at all, it's the first time I've even seen an ocean.

[He moves his free arm in a sweeping gesture to encompass the whole scenery.]

We just do't have anything like this. Amestris is a land-locked country, and I haven't been lucky enough to travel outside its borders yet. But I will one day, and then maybe I'll see the oceans of my home world for myself too.

[superseding]

I hope you do get to see the ocean once you get home. Iniidae makes me believe it's beautiful no matter where it is.

[ Hotaru pulls his hand closer to her, so she can see if some of the marshmallow tried to hide somewhere hard to notice. ]

Being here is my first time out of my country, too. My father is too dedicated to his work to travel.

[armoured]

Really? What does he do?

[Al is more than happy to turn the focus of the conversation onto her. He loves hearing about other people, and it always warms him inside when he hears about loving family units.]

[superseding]

He's a scientist. He researches genetics, but that's all he spends his time doing.

[ She loves her father with all her heart, but there's no hiding the loneliness she feels when sees her father less and less the older she gets. ]

He's also the founder of an escalator school.

[armoured]

[As long as he doesn't get quite as into genetics as Shou Tucker...]

What exactly is an escalator school? I don't think I've heard of one before.

[superseding]

[ No, not nearly as bad as Tucker, but his experiments did cause an accident that killed his wife and it would've killed his daughter if he didn't make a pact with an evil world destroying alien to have her possessed. ]

An escalator school is one where a student can attend from elementary school all the way up to university. Usually, students have to take exams to be admitted into higher education, but at an escalator school, once you're in, you don't have to take those kinds of entrance exams. It's a great privilege, but you have to really think carefully if you want to stay in the same school all your life.

[ Ah, it looks like she's got most of the gunk off of Al's hands. ]

Oh, I'm almost done.

[armoured]

Oh... thank you so much, I'll be much more careful when I pick one of these up in the future.

[He wiggles his fingers happily.]

I didn't even know there was a name for school like that. I come from small village and there is only one school, and not everyone stays in it for long.

[superseding]

Really? Hmm... I wonder. I don't want to assume, but is education more of a privilege where you are?

[ History is her favorite subject, but she doesn't know when compulsory education became a thing off the top of her head. It's also not a given that Al's world is like hers. After all, she hasn't read about a lot of people going around wearing armor like Al does in the early 20th Century. ]

[armoured]

Not unless you want to go to university, or something like that, everybody goes to school as a kid.

[It's just that some people, like he and Ed, had more important things to do than get a normal education.]

[superseding]

That's more familiar to me.

[ She pauses. She doesn't have anything to judge how old Al is other than his voice, and the armor can make it misleading? Time to take a shot in the dark. ]

Do you want to go to university?

[armoured]

I left school a long time ago, I don't think that's really possible for me now. But it's okay, because I travel around helping my brother with his work.

[That's the basic version, anyway.]

He's a State Alchemist, the youngest one ever.

[superseding]

[ That doesn't clear up his age for Hotaru at all, but her attention has switched completely. ]

Alchemist? Alchemy like... changing something into something else entirely of the same chemical make up?

[ It's too bad the title of State Alchemist has no meaning for her. ]

[armoured]

Right, that's exactly it.

[She gets so many points for knowing that.]

We're actually both alchemists, but my brother is the only one with an official title. It works by using the power of tectonic energy to fuel the transmutations, it's pretty amazing!

[superseding]

Tectonic energy?

[ That's where Al loses Hotaru, and it shows on her face. How does the earth's crust have anything to do with alchemy? ]

It sounds amazing. I've only read about alchemy in history books, so it's really neat to hear about it being something real and present in another world.