I am the black in the book,
The colors on the pages that you memorize.
It never ceased to amaze me how long he could spend with his nose stuck in a book. During those hours of long studying, it seemed that neither external nor internal stimuli could disturb his rapid train of thoughts. But, sooner or later, this certain expression would bloom across his features. His lips would twist into an unpleasant scowl, his eyebrows would scrunch together to form a deep line in his forehead, and, depending on what was bugging him, he would start to shift uncomfortably in his seat. (The shifting typically meant he had to piss really badly.) Not long after, he'd slam his book down and get up, either rushing to the bathroom or the kitchen to find something to fill his gigantic stomach with.
Then, either the toilet would flush or the fridge would slam shut and he'd find his way back to his seat and pick up his book again. Once or twice, just for the pure fun of it, I hid the book he had been reading, or more so memorizing. He went through the normal routines of his "memorizing" schedule, but, according to the expression on his face, something went horribly wrong when he reached for his book. He just sat there for a moment, starring at the place where his book used to be. Slowly, he sighed and looked up at me with fierce golden eyes.
"What did you do with my book?" He asked me, probably knowing that I'd lie to him about its whereabouts.
"I have no idea where your book is, Edward." I answered him, doing a poor job of hiding the smirk on my face. He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, obliviously not in the mood to play this sort of game.
"You know damn well where my book is, now give it back." He threatened, holding out his hand to either have the book handed to him, or to snatch it back. I just shrugged my shoulders, giving him an innocent look.
"I honestly don't know where your book ran off to, Edward. Better get looking if you want it back." The smirk on my lips grew wider and his eyebrow started to twitch.
"Fine. Keep the damn book. I don't care." He fired back and laid back down on the couch, his arms crossing awkwardly over his chest. I chuckled softly and shook his head. I wondered how long he could keep this up…
It didn't take that long to figure out many things that made up Edward Elric. He was a picky, I-don't-give-a-shit bastard who was self-absorbed and a total creature of habit. A disturbance in his daily routine such as being woken up early or dinner not being served at the correct time led to yelling now and a night of childish fuming with no sex.
So then why did he entrance me so much?
Maybe, besides all of that mostly negative stuff about him, he was pretty damn smart and...pretty damn attractive. He was kinda like a strange sort of attractive. Like, some sort of animal at the zoo that you knew nothing about. A strange, sunset golden haired creature with even stranger ocher eyes. You'd wonder, just like I did, where this strange creature was from, but it would just stare at you say that it was from a place that you didn't think existed. Naturally, you'd think that this creature is faking it and you'd laugh it off whenever it told you about where it came from. Then, you'd start to grow tired of the endless stories about people who didn't exist and outlandish claims to some sort of fame.
One day, you'd be sitting with this strange creature and it'd decide to tell you another story. (By now, it was just telling you these stories to convince you.) You'd listen with mild interest until your finger would start to tap and your eyebrow would start to twitch with annoyance.
"Do you honestly and completely expect me to believe this crap you're spitting out?" I spit out, interrupting the "good" part of the story. "I've never heard of this stupid place and these people you keep talking about, and I certainly don't believe this crap about your stupid little magic circle crap. It's made up! Fiction! Stupid magic you call alchemy doesn't exist in this world! It's a stupid childish fantasy story that a parent would their child before going to bed! I bet you don't even have this little brother you always talk about!" I went on and on, not even bothering to pay attention to the way the his expression had morphed into something completely different
"I don't care if you believe or not." He cut in, interrupting you this time. I look up and, for a moment, the look in his eyes made my heart stop. "But, it's my life— it's still is my life. And, if you can't believe it, then fine." I couldn't even speak. I just watch as he got up from the leather sofa and walked away, his long, thick and unmanageable hair following behind him like a tail.
"Alfons!" I blinked, coming out of the depths of memory and back onto the shore of reality. I looked up, seeing his face a mere two inches away from mine. I freeze, feeling the blood rush to my face. "You aren't very good at hiding. " He said, holding up the leather bound book with a smirk on his face.
"Hey!" I reach up to grab the book, but he quickly pulled it away from my grasp. "You cheated!" I huffed, puffing out my cheeks in a way that almost never ceased to make him let out a soft, barking chuckle.
"It's not my fault you got all wrapped up in your world!" He tapped my forehead with the old spine of the book before walking away. The old leather couch gave a violent groan as he plopped down on it, opening the book to the page he'd been "memorizing".
I sighed heavily, feeling my shoulders and head sink together. It's subtle, but I recognize it. The books he "memorizes" are like his cave of memories...A reminder of something he did in the past with his "brother". His fake smiles and soft chuckles are like his wall of numbness to keep everyone out…including me. I sighed again, my eyelids falling to block the sight of the golden and ocher creature in front of me.