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Drabble the Fifteenth: 5th Lab: Tagalong
Alphonse was following him. Scar was trying to ignore this fact, but the boy's feet clanged loudly against the floor every time he took a step, and sound carried well in this unnaturally perfect hallway. Why was the boy following him? Surely he didn't think that Scar actually wanted him there; in fact, the exact opposite was true. Scar did not want anyone to be tagging along after him in this place, especially not Alphonse. Did he think that the Ishbalan would protect him…or worse, after what had happened with that explosion, that Scar himself needed protecting? Scar narrowed his eyes a bit; he did not need to be protected! A few seconds later, Scar shook his head slightly, realizing that he wasn't thinking clearly; the noisily-clanging presence of Alphonse was getting to him. The boy probably just wanted to try to keep him from killing his brother. But Scar also noticed that Alphonse was slowly but steadily closing the gap between them; he was fairly young…maybe he did think that he would be protected.
Clang…clang…clang…Scar felt like screaming in frustration. He didn't want Alphonse following him, he wanted the boy to go away! He couldn't kill him; what remained of his conscience told him very clearly that killing someone was a horrible to repay them for saving one's life. The same held true for incapacitation by destruction of half the boy's body, although at the moment this option was beginning to be very tempting.
Clang…clang…clang…okay, that was it, he couldn't take this anymore. Without turning around or stopping, he spoke through slightly clenched teeth, "I am not going to protect you, or help you find your brother."
"I know," was the small, slightly timid reply. Clang…clang…clang…
Okay, so the boy apparently hadn't understood the subtle hint, or perhaps had just chosen to ignore it. Scar began walking faster, fists clenched tightly and crimson eyes narrowed in great annoyance. Alphonse started walking faster too. Clang..clang..clang…Scar spoke again, trying to stay calm, "Stop. Following. Me."
"But…this is the only hallway we've seen so far…"
Scar nearly cringed; he and Alphonse were not a 'we'. There was himself, and there was Alphonse. Separately. Not together. He flatly refused to consider himself as traveling with an alchemic abomination; it was hardly bearable to think of said alchemic abomination as even just tagging along in the same general direction that he was. He walked faster. Alphonse walked faster too. Clangclangclangclangclang…That noise was driving Scar to the very brink of insanity, "Then go back."
"But I have to find niisan."
If one had listened very, very closely at this moment, one would have heard the sound of Scar's teeth grinding together. There was no dissuading the boy. In his mind, Scar threw his hands in the air and shouted, "FINE!". In real life, however, he simply slowed his pace back to a regular walk, saying nothing. There was silence as the Ishbalan and his tagalong continued down the seemingly endless white hallway. Well…mostly silence.
Clang…clang…clang…
A/N: Heeheehee…even though this scene wasn't actually in the anime, I wish it was. Funny, funny…it does make sense that Scar would be at least a little annoyed with Al following him, especially since at that point he still didn't like Al all that much. Anyway, even though this scene seems fairly trivial and wasn't actually in the series, this is some nice character development here; Scar is beginning to accept Alphonse's presence, and for him that's a big thing. As always, I love all the reviews and reviewers!