Panorama
--
A/N: This story is written for the FMA Big Bang Challenge on LJ. Big thanks to my wonderful beta reader, Aevium, for always sticking up for me!
The story is not completely historically accurate, but it is based upon the knowledge of a German series of six episodes from 1916 called Homunculus. Most of the series is lost to the world, only episode 4 exists as full, and bits and pieces of a couple of the others. I haven't seen it, but Arakawa-san might have had this German fable in mind when she developed Fullmetal Alchemist.
Warnings: Sexual situations, violence and awkward madness.
CHAPTER 1: The One Unable to Love
--
It had started to rain heavily, only one of the many privileges this time of the year brought the city of Munich, Germany. Likely one of the many places in Western Europe where there could be sun one minute and a cold rainy storm the next.
Alfons Heiderich bypassed some small shops, and people were trotting hastily by in attempts to escape the rain while hiding underneath large umbrellas in all fancy colours. The people of Munich seemed always to be engrossed with using their time to the fullest, no matter how hard the sky was falling down on them. The war was over, the prices were ridiculous, but what did people do? They moved on. Went on with their normal lives and continued thinking forward towards better times, while still treasuring the memories of the people they had tragically lost in the trenches. The predictions of a new war were preposterous.
Sheltering himself underneath today's newspaper, he hurried down the main street. The front page was covered with promises of a better future from the popular national socialist party. The paper had started to become moist and he hoped it would hold, at least until he reached home. He was on his way from the factory, it was Friday, and he had been told to take the weekend off for once. He was sure they had said it because of his coughing, although he had tried to make that matter as discreet as possible but his efforts had been futile.
Do something fun and relax, they had said.
Fun? Alfons had scoffed. Like that might happen.
It would probably be just a couple of normal days at home in the small apartment he shared with a certain blond and capricious mathematical prodigy, who had taken too much of a liking to alcohol lately. Alfons doubted his own feeble body would agree to any drinking nights this time. However, he looked forward to be relaxing with his roommate, unless this said roommate wasn't too engaged with his own current occupation. Maybe he should rather take the time to do some cleaning around the apartment; it had been a couple of months since last time.
The thought of trying to get Edward to start cleaning again made his lips trickle into a smile. He would simply 'sweep the floor with a glance' and then say: "You've always wanted a cat, what do cats have that dust bunnies don't?"
Stubborn as they both were, the other always had to contribute.
"Cats are way healthier!"
"It's clean enough here to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy."
"Nobody likes dirt, or maybe you do?"
"Dirt is underestimated. Just look at the dust bunnies, they're almost like guard dogs keeping everything else out." Edward grinned.
Alfons crossed his arms. "Your jokes are awful and they will not help you escape from helping me out." He received a disgruntled noise for reply.
Then Edward did the most unbelievable thing. He went down on his knees by the sofa and lifted up a small ball of dust in his hand and held it up for Alfons to see, with a ridiculously cute look in his large golden eyes. "Look at it, do you really have a heart to murder this little creature?" He petted it. "We could name it Dustin."
"You're hopeless!"
"See, Dustin, he's calling us hopeless now. Did you hear that, Alfons? He says you're stupid and mean."
"You can't even return a fair argument."
No matter how ludicrous his arguments with Edward got, they always ended up with Alfons giving up trying to win vocally. Still, he always got his way in practice.
Edward had carelessly whipped the mop around the floor with too much soap, even washing the windows with it, and he was probably the only person in the world who could make cleaning a fun social activity just by that.
Speaking of fun social activities, Alfons decided that he really wanted to do something together with Edward this weekend. Just the two of them. Perhaps something they didn't usually do.
He reached Miss Gracia's flower shop and continued up the stairs to the apartment they rented on the 3rd floor. The front page on his newspaper had become so stained from the rain that the ink of the headlines had become blurry and spread out into a disastrous mayhem. He disposed of it on the floor and wrung off his wet coat. Using only a newspaper as an umbrella hadn't been all that effective in keeping him dry. "I'm home," he called out softly out in space.
"About time," a voice called back. It came from the kitchen.
Alfons stepped down the hall and turned right, facing the doorway into the kitchen. And there stood a smaller young man with long blond hair in the same colour as the nonexistent sun, bound up in a ponytail. He had his back towards Alfons, hunched over the counter seemingly reading a book while frying sausages in the frying pan. Edward could read a book in the most bizarre places and in the most unfitting situations. His devotion to books was like a moth drawn towards a lit candle. In contradiction to that, Edward Elric willingly working in the kitchen was an undeniably rare sight.
"Are you making dinner?" Alfons asked baffled.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" the eighteen-year-old retorted. "I knew you'd be home late, and I was hungry."
Alfons crossed his arms and smirked. Typical Edward, trying to make it sound like he didn't do anything to make his roommate happy. Even if Alfons was one year younger he was usually the one in charge of house work in general, not only cleaning. Although, he was hungry too so he was glad that Edward had already started. "So, do you need any help?"
Edward finally turned around, looking up from the book and the stove, and his large amber eyes observed him neatly. "Just hang around," he said in a light tone. "It's been kind of quiet around here without you."
"You could've come too, you know," Alfons said. "The guys like it when you help out."
"I could've, I know. But I needed to..." his words trailed off. His intention might never have been to finish the sentence in the first place.
Alfons drew closer to him, so close that their bodies almost clashed. "I've missed you today," he murmured and curved his head down. He nibbled softly at the other's lips as his palms rested suitably around Edward's waist, his lips feeling soft and comfortable, like woven velvet. The kiss was light and testing, almost a little teasing even. Alfons pulled back slowly and got the privilege to see how a light reddish blush spread out on Edward's cheeks from his nose.
He quickly turned back to the frying pan. "Shit, this stuff is getting burned!"
Alfons sighed through a smile. "It's probably fine."
They both stared down at the coal black half side of several sausages which had used to be a meaty pink.
"Or not," Edward muttered.
"Maybe we could go out or something instead," Alfons suggested. "The guys told me to take the rest of the week off, so I don't have to go to bed early."
"Ah, really? That's good, you do need some rest," Edward stated with his arms crossed.
"I'm too restless to rest," Alfons contradicted. "Instead we should do something."
"What about your coughing?"
"It's fine, as good as over! And I don't want to stay locked inside the house for the rest of the week."
"Fine, fine," Edward said. "What do you have in mind then?"
Alfons wondered how to put it. Would Edward even agree to it at all? He was probably one of the most non-amorous people alive. He clearly could not tell the difference between a romantic dinner and a slice of bread with a burnt sausage to go with it.
"I thought that maybe... we could go on a... eh..."
"On a what?"
"You know, like... a date."
"Date?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm."
"That's what couples do sometimes, right?" Alfons pointed out. "We've never had one."
"Because, two guys usually don't do that stuff," Edward reasoned.
"That's true, but... it wouldn't be that obvious, would it? It could be like two friends hanging out for all other people care."
"But it's pouring down out there." Edward looked away towards the kitchen window, looking uncomfortable. "My arm turns quite ineffective and hurts when it's raining, and I still don't believe you when you say your cough has gone away."
Alfons hesitated by the mention of Edward's arm. He was right about that. They couldn't risk the prosthetics too much since they couldn't exactly go and buy new ones in an everyday grocery store. "We can wait for the rain to calm down, or bring umbrellas, or wait until tomorrow," he said instead, still trying to contain his enthusiasm. "It seems to have calmed down already since I came in, so maybe it'll stop soon." He really wanted to go, but if Edward kept having something against going out he would let the subject down and just let him continue reading his obsession. Maybe he could take a walk alone somewhere instead, but there was no way that thought didn't make him feel gloomy.
"Alright," Edward said.
Alfons could hardly believe his own ears. "Really?"
"Sure, why not?" Edward shrugged. "We could go get drunk somewhere and then—"
"No, no," Alfons shot in. "No getting drunk."
Edward stared at him like he was crazy. "Then... what do people do out on dates?"
"Eat dinner, hang out, watch a movie at the cinema perhaps," Alfons suggested.
"Can we afford something like that?" Edward emphasized. "I've heard it costs a lot to get in to see those things."
"It's not that bad," Alfons reassured. "Why don't you just pick a movie from the newspaper while I take a short shower? I left the paper in the hall. What's left of it, that is." He felt really excited and couldn't help the bright smile spreading across his own face.
"Alright," Edward scoffed. "I've never seen one before, so."
"Never?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Well, because..." Edward beamed softly. "We don't have that sort of thing in my world."
"Ah..." Alfons said. "I see."
While Alfons went into the bedroom to find some fresh clothes, Edward dropped to his knees by the moistened newspaper and tried to carefully keep the thing together with his prosthetic metal hand, while turning the sticky pages with the flesh one. The back of the newspaper was a little drier, and he skimmed through small articles, reviews and commercials. And there was a list of movies to be seen at the cinema in Munich for the weekend. None of the titles seemed very appealing to Edward, except the last one. He had to read the word several times before he was certain it was really there. His eyes widened a little and his flesh hand shook slightly in anticipation.
"Alfons!" he called, standing up abruptly while clutching the newspaper.
Alfons came out of the bedroom only dressed in his trousers, startled by the sound of his roommate's voice and gave him a questioning look. Why had he sounded so strange all of a sudden?
"What is it?"
Edward pointed at a spot on the newspaper with an unreadable look in his eyes, and Alfons stepped closer to see. As he read the title, he understood why Edward had reacted.
"I didn't think something from my world would be here," Edward whispered. "Or that someone in their right mind would make a movie called Homunculus."
--
"I can't believe it," said Edward. It was the tenth time he had said it the last half hour. Alfons rested his cheek in his palm as he gazed down at the menu. They'd better not choose anything too expensive since their budget was limited enough already. Not that it was the fanciest restaurant on the block, but it was rather popular among the common working-class in town.
"I've never heard of homunculi in the news or such before, it's odd that they wouldn't hush down on the information." Edward had the usual deep scowl in his features, something that usually only made him cute.
"I told you," Alfons said. "The word homunculus isn't entirely uncommon in this world. I looked it up in a Latin dictionary, and it says black on white: 'little human, or most generally, any representation of a human being."
"Close," Edward said. "But they're actually more like living artificial creatures manipulated by one single emotion rather than humans. They have no soul. They can only be born through alchemy by a failed human transmutation."
"Alchemy was never a successful art in this world," Alfons declared.
"Which is why this movie might tell me more of why homunculi aren't uncommon phenomenon here, and how the creators of this movie know about it."
Alfons wasn't convinced. "I don't know if I even want to see this movie." He shuddered by the thought of the genre. "I read the review. It's a horror movie. It's made to scare people. I get scared."
"Do you want me to hold your hand?" Edward mocked.
"It's not funny!"
Edward was silent for a moment while his smile morphed back into a thoughtful scowl. "You never know... They might actually know something about my world." He had lowered his voice by the mention of his world, drawing Alfons' clear blue eyes back up at him for some seconds. "Or about alchemy."
"Edward, it could be just a fiction movie," Alfons said carefully, not wanting his lover to have his hopes set in the sky. "It's not certain that it's based on any realistic circumstances. Here in this world the knowledge of alchemy is mainly a legend from ancient history." To him that was obvious, but he was cautious with the subject around Edward.
"That's probably what they want people to believe," Edward countered. "Besides, people just think of it as fiction simply because they don't know any better. No matter what it is, I can't not see it."
Alfons sighed. He knew that when Edward's curiosity had first been triggered, there was no way of talking him out of it.
"Fine then," he said, giving in. Although, he might reconsider the thought of Edward holding his hand while watching.
By the time they had gotten their food, Edward was into a deep monologue about how superficial the knowledge of alchemy was in this world and how the other world's information couldn't really be compared to one another.
Alfons' attention to him went to and fro while he talked, but Edward never noticed whenever he spaced out on him. Alfons picked mindlessly at his food, wondering how this strange person had miraculously ended up with him or if he actually believed everything about this other world. It was a secret Edward had shared only with him, because sharing it with anyone else meant that he was practically turning himself in to the nearest asylum. Cobalt eyes gazed closely up at the other young man. He had known him for over a year and knew him inside-out. Still, he never stopped wondering who he actually was. Was he a lost person from a distant world he longed to return to, but couldn't, simply because that place was unreachable from anywhere? Was he mad or telling the truth? Which prospect of that was the most alarming one?
Alfons had never actually doubted Edward's sanity. It was more a question of his ways of facing reality. Edward's reality was different than his, and anyone else's. But that didn't necessarily make it untrue.
He ate small bites of his food as Edward had a moment to breathe.
"That's why I'm concerned if the homunculus had actually existed in this world. Not that they'd be able to change their form without alchemy though, although, there is still a chance that someone knows how to use alchemy in this world. It might be a parallel concept of it, the way people are parallel from the people I used to know."
Alfons lowered his fork, discreetly making sure no one had turned to look towards them with distressed looks on their faces, or had overheard him. Luckily everyone at the restaurant behaved like normal.
Apparently, every person had another person they looked like in the other world. And he, he had been told that he looked like Edward's younger brother. His eyes shot down of the thought of it. He would never get used to the thought that there might be another version of him out there, and that Edward knew them both. The most disturbing thought was that Alfons could imagine which of them Edward wished to be with the most.
"What is it?" Edward was looking at him with a troubled look. Then he grinned. "Are you still nervous about the movie?"
"No, that's not it," Alfons said. "Perhaps I will be if the homunculus in the movie is anything near akin to the homunculus you keep talking about." Because that would mean that they really were real.
"That fact will disconcert me too," Edward agreed. "But I promise, I'll leave it all alone if nothing proves that it has something to do with it."
"Good," Alfons sighed.
"However, I'm curious about how this moving picture show looks in the first place."
When they had finished eating they paid and left the restaurant. Alfons had some moments to let some of his grim thoughts slip, and he felt excited again. Actually, he looked forward to showing Edward the cinema. He hadn't been there for a long time, but he still remembered the first time he saw one when he was little. He had been travelling with his mother and they had seen a cartoon movie about a dinosaur. American. It had been one of the most amazing things he'd ever seen.
It was completely dark outside. Even if it had stopped raining, the dark clouds were still covering the sky like someone had thrown a carpet over the city. A sour wind blew through the small gap on Alfons' jacket and he coughed a little while they walked. Edward sent him a wary sidelong glance, like he would consider heading straight home if Alfons coughed again. He pushed his hands deeply inside his pockets on his long brown coat, hiding the metal one and went a little closer by Alfons' side.
"Don't catch a cold," he said.
Alfons returned a half-hearted smile. "I'm not catching anything."
When they arrived at the cinema it was already crowded with people, eager to see the apparently new horror movie. But of course, either it was weekend or not, the cinema was always very much visited.
Alfons bought them tickets and found Edward studying the commercial poster of the movie they were about to see. The poster was dark, and pictured a man with dead eyes and a very uncommon body posture. It reminded Alfons of a zombie. He gazed at Edward and noticed that he was completely uninterested in the picture and rather studied the names of the movie makers and actors with tiny writing at the bottom.
"None of these names are familiar to me," Edward noted. "Sometimes people have the same names as their parallel persons, and I figured that there might be a link to people I've faced in my world who have been related to the homunculi."
Alfons contorted slightly. If Edward could only forget about those things for just one second and enjoy the evening with him... But he didn't mention it out loud.
"The director's name is Otto Rippert, and the story writer's name is Robert Reinert," Edward read thoughtfully. "Are they well-known in this world?"
"Both of them are quite well-known, yes," Alfons said reserved. "But I'm not all too familiar with them, at least not the director."
"If this movie has something to do with my world, they'll be the right people to contact," Edward reasoned. He was about to continue when he got a ticket pushed lightly against his nose. He stared up at Alfons' smiling face, and immediately forgot what he was about to say.
"We'll see the movie first," Alfons instructed evenly. "Then we'll find out."
Edward's smiled crookedly as well and yanked the ticket off his nose. "Alright."
The movie theatre was fully packed with people, with barely a single seat unoccupied by an excited citizen. Edward and Alfons had to dig their way to their seats, apologizing and leaping over people in between the narrow rows of seats. Their seats were located pretty much in the middle row to the left. Edward slumped down and stared curiously around the crowded cinema. Some people were even sitting in the stairs at the sides because there weren't any seats available to them.
"Seems to be a popular movie," Edward noted.
Alfons shrugged. "Figured. I think this is the first time it's being showed."
It became completely dark in the room before the screen came on, the image of light jumping a little up and down before it adjusted into focus. Alfons hoped it wouldn't be as scary as the newspaper had said.
First there was a commercial of another movie that could be viewed at the cinema that weekend, and people chattered enthusiastically after it was done. Edward was no exception, although it wasn't the plot he was interested in.
"It's amazing how a series of individual images can trick the eye to believe that it's real," he said while staring fascinated at the screen. "It's just an illusion. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, you can't see the flickering between frames due to the persistence of vision, where the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed."
"Oh," Alfons said. "I thought you said you hadn't seen a movie before."
"I haven't."
Alfons scowled at him. "Then how…?"
"It's quite obvious," Edward stated.
"Right…" Well, he had always thought of Edward as an omnilegent being.
The motion picture in black and white started and ominous music loomed in the background, and people hushed around at each other to become quiet.
Alfons was soon too caught up by the plot to worry about the boding evil tones of the movie. It was about an artificially created human made by a scientist in a laboratory. This new creation was meant to be the perfect existing being. The nameless man had neither a soul nor the ability to feel real caring emotions like love, and soon he fled from the scientist after discovering his actual origins. He decided to take revenge on mankind by starting revolutions and becoming a monstrous tyrant in the name of Fuhrer. At the same time his creator-father was searching for him to remedy his mistake.
Alfons thought it was okay, but pretty fictive and on occasion very scary. But nothing like that could ever happen in reality, he thought in relief. Then he suddenly noticed that there were much fewer people in the theatre now over halfway through the movie, than when the movie had started – which seemed odd. Why would people be leaving in the middle of a film? He turned around as he heard some shouting behind him, and saw a man who was literally fighting his way out toward the doors.
"This is insane!" he screamed. "I won't watch this nonsense anymore!"
Alfons turned around again with a frown. It's just a movie… He could agree that the movie was quite frightening and he had been startled more than once. But he wouldn't leave just for something as minor as that. Besides, he had paid to be here so he would stay until the movie ended. He turned to look at Edward, and opened his mouth to speak, but something stopped him.
Edward was sitting erect in his chair, staring at the screen with concerted eyes so large that the golden orbs were mirroring the events happening on the screen. He didn't even seem to have noticed that people were leaving the cinema before the movie was over.
Alfons sank back into his seat with a small sigh. He had an idea of what Edward's review would be.
When the movie was finally over, the few last people around them left in a hurry, some of them even crying. Alfons turned to Edward again, who rose abruptly from his seat and stood still for some seconds.
Alfons wanted to say don't tell me that you recognized aspects of this movie... Please.
Edward looked at him then with a deep scowl. "The Fuhrer in my country was a homunculus too."
Alfons wanted to go sleep.
--
It was late when they headed home. Fortunately the rain hadn't started again, but the air was still chilly and humid. Alfons wrapped his scarf more carefully around his throat as they went and glanced up at the depressing clouds in the dark night. Edward was much quieter than he had expected him to be, and he avoided starting the conversation himself because he was afraid he would say something that the older might take as an insult. As a scientist he saw only truth in what was proven, but who was he to judge really? Even if Edward laughed at text books, quarrelled with Professors at the University and believed Albert Einstein to be a suspicious nut, he knew Edward was special and brilliant and exceptional. He had told Alfons several things before he had doubted to be factual, still he found himself believing in it because it was exciting.
"You already know I can't let this be, right?" Edward finally said.
Alfons chuckled. "Or else it wouldn't be you."
Edward grinned at those words, immediately more at ease. "It might sound dull, but it's true. That movie is based upon something that actually happened in my world."
"But how would they know about that?" Alfons reasoned. "Aren't you the only one who knows?"
"I thought so too... Apart from my father."
"It couldn't be just a coincidence though?"
"No."
Alfons figured. "Alright. Let's look into it. Maybe we can contact the director and ask him."
Edward stared at him in surprise. "I thought you'd suggest that it's crazy."
"I didn't say it's not," Alfons reassured. "But nonetheless, I'll help you look for even the tiniest sense of rationality concerning all this."
Edward lightened up with a smile and seemed to be in a very good mood the rest of the way home. He started talking enthusiastically about the movie again, that some of the things that happened were really unrealistic but the small details were recognizable from (his) reality, like the fact that homunculi couldn't feel and that they had no soul. He seemed excited to start his new "research" tomorrow, and he discreetly touched Alfons a lot without making it too obvious for bypassing citizens. But Alfons noticed it, and he couldn't help liking it and that they had done something together that Edward had appreciated. Even if it was mostly the other world which drove the older forward, Alfons couldn't let that come in between his joy of them being together. He wanted to be a part of that world too, which of course made it impossible not to believe in it.
When they got home they went in as silently as they could to avoid waking up their landlady. They cuddled up underneath the comforting warm covers in Alfons' bed, and rested against the feeling of each other's bare skin.
"Did you notice how people just left the cinema?" Edward asked.
"Yeah," Alfons said in wonder. He'd thought Edward hadn't noticed. "Maybe they thought it was too scary."
"Did you think it was scary?" Edward smirked.
Alfons flushed. "No, don't be silly."
"I noticed how you almost reached for my metal hand. Did you think I wouldn't feel it?"
"I didn't!"
"Yes, you did!"
Alfons growled. "But it was a little horrifying at a certain point."
Edward grinned in triumph and kissed Alfons' lips. "Don't worry; I'll make sure the homunculus won't come and eat you."
Alfons rolled his eyes, but didn't turn away from the kiss. "I doubt it would consider me much of a treat."
Edward bit gently at his jaw. "I disagree."
Alfons went silent, feeling amused, and let Edward continue kissing his jaw, before continuing down his throat. The feeling of his lips was light and soft, making Alfons long for more. He answered the kisses onto Edward's chest, lightly touching a nipple with the tip of his tongue.
Edward breathed out in pure pleasure and arched his body up to press against his. They were still both a little shy in this new department of emotions. Their first time together had been only a few months earlier, but had fancifully enfolded their daily life to both of their appreciation after that.
As soon as the desiring and passionate emotions emerged within their spinal cords, neither of them made motion to ever let go of one another. Alfons left a light trail of soft kisses over the scar tissue on Edward's chest. It always reminded him of how much Edward had been through in his life, and made Alfons wonder what he himself had been doing his whole life, being protected, being at school, being safe. He had always been left behind, unscratched and feeling alone, while everyone else got hurt and died from him. At least until he met this brilliant wonder of a human being with eyes and a heart of gold.
He hugged around Edward's chest, suddenly stopping absentmindedly the erotic conduct.
Edward scowled and lifted his head to peer down at him. "Is something wrong?"
Alfons shook his head. "Sorry... I let my mind trail off a bit."
Edward looked insulted, and vengefully thrust his hips directly into his groin, making the other gasp out.
Alfons chuckled softly and attempted to soothe over his mistake. "I just couldn't imagine being without you."
"You're not being without me," Edward said, stating the fact. But somehow he always caught onto what Alfons really meant. "If I ever go back to my world, I'll drag you along with me."
Alfons smiled. He knew he preferred that over dying. "Thank you."
Edward closed his metal fingers gently around his cheek. "No, I'm the one on the side of gratitude. Anyone else would've thought of me as insane and locked me up. You're the only one I can trust in this world."
Alfons' heart made an excited leap of appreciation inside his chest. He reached up and kissed Edward again, more fervently this time.
Slowly he began to rub up and down against Edward in delicate strokes. He could feel Edward's desire hardening further through the barrier of their shorts, which was enough to make Alfons bolder, pacing faster and attacking the crook of his neck with kisses and small bites. Shortly after Edward had squirmed both Alfons and himself out of their shorts, and their naked bodies were cocooning one another into the enchanting affection.
Even in the dim light he could see Edward's face burning, and his own cheeks were equally aflame, blood beating in his ears. The sound of their breathing was strident, out of cadence. Edward's lips were humid with Alfons' kisses. The wordless connection and understanding they shared between one another was something Alfons knew he would never have with someone else.
He didn't miss the light wince in Edward's face as he entered him, and he waited patiently and soothed with kisses on the warm skin until his striking amber eyes misted with pleasure. Alfons began to move in slow strokes that brought him almost all the way out, before sinking back in to the hilt.
Edward hissed out his name, wrapping his legs around his waist to pull him closer. His mouth was half-open, and his small soft sighs filled Alfons with pure delight, and his body strived towards his pushes. Long stray locks of golden hair were sticking to his face, and Alfons brushed them away lightly, wanting to see all emotions reflecting in those beautiful eyes.
The rhythm of movements inside him, his trembling, ragged sighs, slapping sound of their bodies carried Alfons away. Edward tossed his head back as they both came together, frozen in a sweet series of delightful spasms.
Alfons collapsed and went boneless on top of Edward. For a couple of minutes they were just lying like that, listening to the music of silence, waiting for their breaths to soothe down.
"This dating stuff isn't so bad," Edward declared.
Alfons rolled onto his back beside him and chuckled softly. "I knew you'd warm up to it, with or without chasing this wild clue to another distant planet. Or getting drunk."
Edward grinned and propped himself up on his elbow, gazing down at Alfons' soft face. "Every time I set out on wild goose chases I end up in another world."
Alfons knew it was a joke, but as they settled to sleep he hooked his leg over Edward's and wrapped his arms around his cool metal arm for a good measure. Just to be sure.
If you're ending up in another world this time, don't forget to take me with you.
--
The next day was a sunny Saturday morning when Edward and Alfons settled down at a table in the public library. It was only eleven o'clock, so there were only a few people wandering around all the shelves of books, giving them the privacy they needed.
"We got two names to start with, so you can start with the writer, Robert Reinert," Edward instructed. "And I'll look up the director, Otto Rippert."
"Alright," Alfons said, digging into the stack of books they had already found of assorted history on German film. He didn't have to look for long until he found a small biography of the writer of Homunculus. The article was older than the movie, but it didn't matter much. "He's a novelist mostly, but also a director," Alfons informed. "Born in Vienna, but has lived in Munich since 1900, a few kilometres outside the centre."
"That's at least something," Edward said. "Then he shouldn't be too far out of reach, in contradiction to this guy. I can hardly find anything on Otto Rippert." He had already scanned through the contents of three different books, being the true knowledge sponge he was. "He's being listed as director of several films, but I can't find any more information about him."
"I'll try this book," Alfons said and continued to flip the pages of the volume he had already started reading. "It seems to have decent biographical articles on most of the main people in German movie making."
And he did find the name he was looking for. He sighed and turned the book towards Edward. Golden eyes danced over the page, before scowling in disappointment. "Otto Rippert, 1869-" he muttered. "Is he the only one without a biography?"
"Seems like it." Alfons shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't like having information written down about him."
"That's stupid, he's a famous director, isn't he?"
"Well, what about the writer? At least he lives close to where we are," Alfons said, although he didn't like it much. What were they supposed to do? Come knock on his door and ask him about another world?
"Yeah, I want to have a small chat with him," Edward said. "Did you find his address?"
Alfons nodded. "At least one from two years ago. If he hasn't moved..."
"We'll find out when we get there." Edward rose from his seat and quickly gathered all the books back into a stock. "Let's go!"
Alfons rose too, feeling uncertain. "What are you going to ask him?"
"Don't worry, I'll go easy on him," Edward smirked, and Alfons rolled his eyes. Edward could often be a little too importunate.
They found a bus and drove for about twenty-five minutes before they reached the other side of town. Neither of them were very familiar in these streets, and after getting off the bus they simply picked the direction by following their (or Edward's) intuition. After a couple of mistake turns, they found the right street.
The house was small, but everything around the porch seemed neat and tended for. Edward stepped right up on the porch without a moment's hesitation, hammered on the door using the fancy bronze knocker shaped as a lion's head.
Alfons wondered if he hoped the writer wasn't at home. Would it be okay to step up to his door like this? But then the door unlocked and opened, and he gathered up his most polite (and apologetic) facial expression, ready to smooth everything over if Robert Reinert thought Edward was being rude.
A corpulent man with quite long dark and greyish hair and a curious expression met them in the door. He looked to be around 50 and he was dressed in a casual brown suit, without the tie, and instead the upper buttons of his shirt were undone to relieve some air.
Edward let out a short gasp, and Alfons gazed at him, immediately knowing what that gasp meant. Edward recognized him from his own world. Alfons didn't like this. Edward might be even more convinced than ever that it was some kind of sign signalling that everything had something to do with his world. Although, Alfons had to admit, it was kind of frightening.
The man looked puzzled at the two younger men at his porch.
"Good day," Edward said, fortunately out of his first state of surprise. "Are you Robert Reinert?"
"Yes, who is asking?"
"Edward Elric," Edward introduced himself. "And this is my friend, Alfons Heiderich."
The man accepted both of their hands and greeted them warmly. "What do I owe this pleasure?"
"I was wondering if you've got some time? There's something I'd like to speak with you about."
"Well of course, I do have some time. Please, come in."
He stepped to the side and invited Edward and Alfons inside. "Thank you, sir," Alfons said politely.
"Not at all. Let me put on some coffee. Or do you prefer tea?"
The man seemed very happy to get visitors, maybe he didn't have visitors very often, Alfons thought.
"Coffee's fine," Edward replied.
"The living room is this way, just sit down." Reinert made a hand gesture towards an open room and went into the kitchen to prepare the coffee. Alfons looked around the neat house as he followed Edward to the living room. The walls were full of colourful paintings in all sizes. Even if the house was small, Robert Reinert seemed like a wealthy man who could live off of his books and manuscripts.
Edward sat down on the couch a little stiffly and Alfons joined him.
"Is he a parallel person?" He knew there would be no point asking who, but he needed to confirm his suspicions, and he wondered if the person was good or bad according to Edward's experiences.
Edward nodded. "Dr. Tim Marcoh. In my world he was an alchemist who made incomplete Philosopher's stones. These stones worked as food for the homunculi and made them stronger."
Alfons stared at him with broad blue eyes. "That's..." insane. How could a coincidence like that even be possible? But still, it didn't mean that homunculi were real in this world. Alfons consoled himself with that conclusion.
Robert Reinert came into the living room shortly after, carrying a tray with coffee cups and cookies. "I don't have visitors very often," he admitted. "Mostly I'm too busy or away. My wife died some years ago, you see, so after that I've spent most of my time by the typewriter."
"My condolences," Alfons offered apologetically.
"It's quite alright. She was sick, very sick, she's probably much better off now," Reinert added with a small sigh. He put down the tray in front of them. "Just help yourself with coffee and cookies."
"Thank you," Alfons said, but it was Edward who first started to devour a cookie and he wasn't surprised. Food was never unwelcome down in Edward's stomach, no matter where they were.
"So, are you two interested in movies?" Reinert asked knowingly as he sat down at a chair facing them across the small coffee table.
"I'm mainly interested in your latest manuscript," Edward said directly.
Reinert looked at him in a curious manner. "Well, I thought so. The movie named Homunculus has been shown a couple of times at the cinema across the country, and I have to say you were lucky you made it to watch it. They called me a short while ago, telling me that they're considering not showing it anymore." He adjusted calmly in his seat and lifted his coffee cup to his lips.
"Really?" Edward said. "Why?" He picked up his own cup as well, but didn't drink yet since it would be too hot.
"Well, apparently it isn't suited for the cinema. Bad karma and such. They said some people have gone mad seeing it."
Alfons remembered how people had been screaming and hasting out of the big hall during the movie.
Edward quirked an eye brow. "That's hardly fair. I thought it was a good movie."
"I think so too," Alfons added. "Although, it was a little unexpected." Even if it was scary, he hadn't wanted to leave before it was over, and besides, Edward would never have left him alone if he had.
"Thank you," Reinert chuckled softly. "I appreciate having fans among the youth. Although, I got considerably more credit from my first books than for this manuscript."
"What I was wondering," Edward continued, "is how you got inspiration to write it."
Reinert stopped drinking his coffee and gazed at Edward again, eyeing him closely with his greenish eyes. "That's an interesting question. The term homunculus has roots in ancient fables, of course. However, the secret to the story has connection in this country's ways of politics, which hasn't always been successful, as you probably know. The Great War was a huge mistake, and another one will occur if they let a person like my fictional character reach the top."
"That sums it up quite well," Edward muttered.
"The director, Otto Rippert, was a good friend of mine, but unfortunately we had our disagreements," Reinert admitted. "He works in association with Ufa."
"Ufa?" Edward repeated. He gazed at Alfons for help.
"It's a movie company in Berlin," Alfons explained. "Pretty well-known too because of Fritz Lang."
Reinert nodded in confirmation. "Ah, his movies, like Dr. Mabuse for instance, were a great success. He is a big inspiration for me. Although, Ufa is a government-owned company – which I personally don't like. They've tried to convince me to work for them, but I've refused their offers so far. They've made huge money out of making propaganda movies for the Great War, which is some of the reasons why so many people were influenced to unwillingly accept the war. A movie is a dangerous weapon."
"A weapon?" Edward repeated slowly.
Alfons understood. "When people are watching it they'll believe there's truth to it since movies are looked upon as a valuable source of information, not to mention how engaging this technology is," he surmised wisely.
"Yes exactly," Reinert said. "It's a perfect way of getting people to think in the same direction as you, and among the authorities it has been misused, and probably also will be in the future. The government makes the cinemas show mainly things they want people to see, or what they want people to believe. My movie is an exception, which is probably why they're planning to remove it from the cinema. They think it'll have bad influence among people's understanding of the government."
"Politics..." Edward shuddered. He hated it.
"I'm just trying to make people see the big picture through fiction," Reinert said with a shrug. "Whether or not people will see it or believe in it is up to them."
Edward sipped at his coffee with a thoughtful scowl. "Mr. Reinert, do you believe in it?"
Reinert stared at him in surprise. From the way Edward asked the question, he obviously understood that he didn't mean the political meaning, but something else. "In what way in particular?"
"Homunculus." Edward said the word in a strange casual manner.
Reinert was silent for a while before he smiled. "A homunculus is said to be an imitation of a human being, unable to love and without caring feelings of other humans, or even the will to understand common sense. Are we supposed to believe that a creature like that could actually exist?"
Edward and Alfons were unsure what to reply to that.
"To not believe it, is naive," Reinert emphasized. "It is said that a homunculus is either a devil or in association with the devil. And I'm a believer, Mr. Elric. If I believe in God, it binds me to believe in the devil as well, whether or not he exists in a human form yet."
It was a wise answer. Alfons wondered if Robert Reinert believed that a tyrant would show up before the people at some point and lead them to acts on behalf of the devil itself. The thought was pretty disturbing. But of course, not all people in the world were good, the war was proof of that. So thinking it couldn't happen was indeed naive and too superficial. Still, Alfons wanted to trust that people had learned something from their mistakes. Making a mistake was human. The lesson was to not repeat them.
Edward nodded at the man's words, seemingly okay with the answer he had received. "I'm sorry we bothered you, Mr. Reinert. Before we go, I have one last favour to ask you."
"Not at all, just ask me anything," Reinert beamed.
"Do you know where I can find Otto Rippert? I'd like to see him too."
Reinert put up his usual puzzled facial expression. "Well, I'd try Ufa if I were you. I know he lives in Berlin, but I don't know his address. He likes to have his privacy, and hardly meets with people other than the ones he's working with. He's usually on one of the sets at Ufa, working on a new movie of his. He hardly ever rests."
Edward nodded. "Thank you very much." He rose and prepared to leave and Alfons rose as well, surprised that Edward was already finished here. They hadn't found out much in particular.
"Can I ask what triggered this curiosity of yours?" Reinert asked.
"Just a hobby of sorts," Edward shrugged. It wasn't even a lie. Alfons rolled his eyes and hid a smile.
"Well, in that case." Robert Reinert showed them the way out and remained in the doorway as they came outside. "I hope this visit was helpful to you. Feel free to come again."
"It was enlightening," Edward said.
"Thank you very much for your hospitality, sir," Alfons added politely.
"Don't mention it, the pleasure is all mine. Have a nice trip to Berlin!"
They left the house and headed back towards the bus stop. Alfons gazed curiously in Edward's direction as he walked in deep thought beside him. "What did you make out of this, really?" he asked in the end. "To me it all sounded like a huge coincidence."
Edward shook his head. "There's something to this, I'm sure. I got the feeling that he was trying to tell me something, but that he might not feel all that comfortable with it."
"Really? He seemed very nice to me..."
"Yeah, that's true. But he might be into something more, and what if this Rippert or this Ufa company has threatened him with something?"
"Threatened him?" Alfons squeaked. "Like, with what?"
"The authorities in this world creeps me out," Edward admitted. "If Robert Reinert is right, they have more control over things than people might be aware of. It's just like in my world. The authorities were the bad guys, and no one even knew. Instead, people trusted their own future to those people."
"I think you're exaggerating," Alfons said carefully. "There's no way there isn't at least one sane person among the people who are ruling this country. The war stopped, you know? We're heading towards better times day by day."
"I'm still going to check out Ufa," Edward said, which Alfons had already assumed to be his next move. It was still early in the afternoon, and as persistent as Edward was he would get to the bottom of this before Monday.
Alfons chuckled. "The train to Berlin leaves every hour. Let's go."
Edward sent him a sidelong glance and grinned.