What an interesting kid...

[Guest]

Well, he was finally here: Fort Briggs. The blistering cold, the unrelenting blizzards, the wild bears…Certainly not for the faint of heart (or spirit). Snow had never been the alchemist’s best friend, but this was a little extreme. So…Good news? Alex had a position as the Head of Military Operations. Bad news? Well, that was a fairly long list, and right now the first priority was getting settled into his dorm properly. The place wasn’t too big, but it wasn’t cramped, either…He almost felt like Goldilocks when he thought of it that way. Letting out a laugh, he shook his head and opened his suitcase. There wasn’t much; A notebook, a novel, a sketchpad, some extra uniforms…and a letter? He recognized the handwriting on the front: there was no mistaking that it was his mother’s doing.

Upon opening the letter, he leaned against the wall, which was his normal reading position. His mother's letter was in pink ink...just like everything else she wrote. It read:

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to see you off…we were visiting a friend of your father’s, and, well…you two don’t exactly have a blooming relationship. Dress warm, and don’t be outside more than you have to! I know that it gets cold up north, and I also know that you’re not particularly fond of the cold. If things get tough, just remember that your Mommy loves you!

P.S. Take good care of Snowball for me, okay?

“Snowball?”

In addition to his suitcase, Alex had brought along a duffle bag with extra uniforms. He walked over to it and crouched down to unzip it. The zipper was stuck. It took a few tries to get the bag to open, and when it finally did, the zipper broke off. Great. Now he’d probably have to get a new bag. The door to his room was still wide open, but he didn’t bother closing it. Maybe the sound of footsteps in the hall would help him get used to this place a lot faster.

Adjusting his glasses, he reached both hands into the bag and pulled out something…soft and fluffy? At closer inspection, he noticed that it was a teddy…polar bear. It even had a little collar that said “Snowball” on the tag. Alex sat down on the bed and hugged the bear. He still hadn’t been able to lose his love for plush toys, and he had purposely left his favorite, Mister Bear, home to try and get along just fine without him. Obviously his mother knew about this, otherwise she wouldn’t have sent him something like this…

[Tsuritsa Cooper]

Inimeg was walking around Briggs, aggitated by well... Aggitation. She had left her cane in her room, and was searching for it. Of course, that made her blind as a mole in the dark with his eyes cut out... So she was really just kicking doors in and screaming in Xingese. "BULL CRAP! WHY CAN A SINGLE ROOM HERE NOT HAVE A SIGN ON IT IN BRAILLE! I DON'T EVEN READ BRAILLE! AHHHH! I WILL KILL REILA FOR THIS!" She then kicked in the door to some new guys room... Which was open. So said, she ended up flinging herself directly into him and knocking him down. "HEY WATCH WHERE YOUR GOING! WHO WAS IT THAT NEVER TOLD YOU TO CLOSE YOUR DOOR!? BECAUSE I WILL DESTROY THEIR SOULS AND FEED THEIR BODY TO MY PET CHAINSAW FOR AN AFTERNOON SNACK!" Of course, she eventually calmed halfway down. "Hey you, don't be useless! Help me find my room. I have my cane in there and I can't see your stupid open doorway without it... It's least you could do for making me fall all over floor..." She glared at him, or at least in his general direction with pale silver eyes. Ofr course, she didn't mind him. She just hated him, that's all. What's new?

[Guest]

The brunette stood up to put the bear back into the bag, but just as he was about to reach down to put Snowball away...a girl violently thrust herself into his room, knocking him over as well as herself, causing Snowball to fly across the room and hit a wall. Alex lay sprawled on the floor in shock for a few seconds, holding his breath and trying to absorb what was happening as the girl yelled - what were probably obscenities - in a language unknown to him.

'Shit. Shit. SHIT!' His heart was beating too fast. He had to calm down...'That's right, stay calm... Whatever you do, stay calm...' He let out his held breath and began to count down from 10, but then she began to speak in Amestrian... It took his best effort to keep calm, especially given the force with which she had entered his room. If he didn't manage to keep calm, then... He didn't want to think about it. This girl... what was the saying? Cane? See? That could only mean...'She's blind! It's no wonder, then...but...a blind girl...here, at Briggs? She's wearing a military uniform, though...' Alex shook off the thought for a moment and stood up. He gently grabbed her hand to pull her up.

"My apologies... I just moved here, and I wasn't aware of your situation. I'll take you to your room right away, miss...?" Good. His heartbeat was starting to slow down again...what a relief...but something told him that the longer he was around this woman, the worse his situation might get...Better to get her to her room A.S.A.P. so that he could leave again...and this time, he'd CLOSE his door. Definitely. That sounded like a lovely idea.

[Tsuritsa Cooper]

Inimeg sighed in annoyance. This guy was such a pain! First he attacked her (Yeah, she was obviously attacked. xD) and now he was apoligizing? He is such a freaking nut... His fruit loops probably lost their marbles too... "Whatever. You can take me back to my room now. But I will still destroy you later on. After Tsukino. Obviously, she is first since she is just..." She stopped talking abruptly and shook her head, angrily. She had no reason to hate Reila, but that didn't stop her in the least bit... "Oh yeah, I'm Inimeg Ty. By the way... You sound like a sissy... And you have very soft, girly hands..." Then, Inimeg obviously had to do it. She ounched Alex... VERY hard... In a place. Then she smiled a bit out of character and laughed. "I think you are a man. Emphasis on think...She then went back to her rather moody and angry normal personality. Having taken his helping hand already, she then made an attempt to pull him towards her dorm-Where she thought it was anyways- But she ended up only slamming him into a wall. "HEY! YOU IDIOT WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! WHAT IF YOU WOULD HAVE BROKEN THAT WALL! THEN I WOULD HAVE HAD TO BEAT YOUR TO DEATH WITH A FIRE HOSE AFTER YOUR CORPSE WAS ALREADY KILLED! YOU MORON!"

[Guest]

It was a miracle that she could change attitudes like that, from yelling to-- Oh, wait...Alex wasn't one to judge someone's mood swings. Not at all. Whoa, wait, destroy? Oh, dear... With a sigh, he watched the girl shake her head. Inimeg...Ty? Interesting person, interesting name...it seemed that he definitely wouldn't be bored at Briggs. Not that it seemed likely to be a positive experience. Alex swallowed hard as Inimeg mentioned his voice...and his hands. Oh, boy... Before he could open his mouth to respond, the woman punched him...in...oh, dear god! The brunette wheezed and hunched over in pain. Yep, he wasn't a girl anymore. No doubt about it. That punch was a... nice little wake-up call...and it hurt. Immensely.

Suddenly Alex was being pulled by Inimeg, who obviously couldn't see what she was doing...and she practically flung him into the wall, face first. Letting out a groan, he let go of Inimeg's hand and fell to the floor. This abuse was getting to be too much! His heart pounded furiously, but the pain of being punched in the jewels was nothing short of unbearable, and the alchemist had never had the opportunity to experience that pain firsthand...until now...

Badum, badum, badum...

He felt himself slowly slipping...which was worse than bad...it was... terrible, horrible, frightening...BLOOD, bad, unrelenting, PAIN, SUFFERING, intangible, numb, DEATH, PAIN, SUFFERING, BLOOD, DEATH...

"AHHHHHuuhhuAAAAHHHHH!!"The brunette heaved unevenly and grabbed his chest. "Please...no...not again..NO!!"

Slipping, Slipping...

[Tsuritsa Cooper]

Inimeg laughed as he bent over in pain."This idiot is funny to watch... I could get used to Briggs with him here..." She grinned before turning back to her spiteful disposition. Bipolarity is a sign of a... Um... Bipolar person? Inimeg was, at any right, a very VERY bipolar girl. Anywho~ She pulled him back up to his feet after she had abruptly slammed him into the wall. "Get up, you stupid moron." Then she noticed he was muttering a lot of stuff, and looked sort of like he was freaking out. "Hey! Come on, I didn't hit you that hard. Don't be such a little wimpy girl. Man, I'M stronger than you. And besides, you shouldn't have walked into a wall in the first place! What were you thinking! Are you even listening to me?" As he muttered to himself, obviously in pain and going a bit off the deep end, Inimeg did what any sensible human being would do, and slapped him across the face with all the force of a walrus body slam. "WAKE UP! Back to reality! AND LISTEN TO ME SCREAMING AT YOU YOU IDIOT!" She then tried again, this time succesfully to drag him down the hall, hopefully towards her room...

[Guest]

Whatever Alex was experiencing, it was highly unpleasant...and he hated it. He hated it all. Inimeg was yelling at him, but he didn't feel like himself...and he ignored it all. Her words, the room, even Snowball had momentarily become non-existent. That wasn't normal...right?

A hand struck him in the face, and Alex just put his own in place of Inimeg's for a few moments. That...that slap kind of saved him. His heart was still beating like a galloping stallion, and he was still breathing sporadically, but...he felt more like himself now. That was a good thing...right?

Badum, badum...

His breathing and his heartbeat slowed slightly, and he let himself be dragged along with Inimeg.

'Call me crazy, but somehow I think if I'm around her a lot...I'll be pretty well off,' he thought somberly. It was just that the lieutenant never thought he'd rely on someone to help him with this...problem of his. Sure, it would be pretty handy in times of war, but...he'd rather not think about war right now. War was filled with violence, blood, and other unmentionable things. His deep brown eyes were focused on the floor at first, but he looked up and began to carry his own weight.

Badum, badum...

"So...I'd be able to help you better if I knew what general area your room was in, you know..." Despite his earlier near-breakdown situation and the beating of his heart, Alex tried to re-establish his calm.

[Tsuritsa Cooper]

Inimeg kept dragging him down a hallway as she went, until he seemed to snap out of it, at which point she let go of him. That was probably a good thing, but that didn't stop her from yelling at him again. "Well, he seems to enjoy asking very obvious questions, now doesn't he? Well, for starters you could, I don't know, LOOK FOR A DOOR WITH MY NAME ON IT! It should have a big olive branch under it, so it isn't THAT hard to find! At least, I don't THINK it is, since I'VE NEVER SEEN IT!" CURSE REILA TSUKINO AND HER STUPID IMAGES ON A BLIND GIRL'S DOOR! MAY SHE FALL FROM THE HIGHEST PEAK OF THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN RANGE OF THE ENTIRE DRACHMAN CONTINENT!" At this point, she angrily grabbed Alex and started dragging him again. Anyone near by would have to feel awfully sorry for Alex at the moment. He was so similar now to the victim of a psychotic psycho with psychiatrical problems... Eventually, they came to a door that fit Inimeg's description and also had a little sign on it in braille next to the name. But she kept dragging Alex, mainly because she couldn't see the door, and because she was still muttering in Xingese about how she should go about Reila's ultimate demise... And how she was going destroy the world eventually, but that was besides the point.

[Reila Tsukino]

"Ah, are you sure? That's the direct translation? Seriously? Hah! Hahah! Damn, I've got some haters don't I?" Despite Reila's pleasant tone over the intercom in her ear, she was actually fuming. You just...couldn't tell. She normally wouldn't handle this sort of...issue personally, but it was something to do with her new recruits. They were important so... Reila cracked her knuckles as she stormed down the hallway in the direction of the dorms. People ducked out of her way with nervous smiles on their faces. Everyone mostly knew not to mess with the Briggs Queen. Reila didn't mind jokes. They occurred frequently, and she was always informed by her intelligence crew who translated and kept twenty-four hour security around the base by watching and actually watching each security camera. She had over twenty men and woman on the job. This was a serious business and ridiculous matters such as this one would not be tolerated at Fort Briggs.

In front of her the scene unfolded. She stopped beside them and Inimeg's door. Leaning closer to the girls ear, an angry smile coiled onto her lips. Even if she could not see it, the smile itself manifested into her voice. "Are you picking on my hand-selected Head of Military Operations? He is new, but your attitude is extremely rude. I request that you reform your ideas of behavior at my base. Also, another matter I would like to cover with you..." Reila's smile grew and her pleasant tone increased. "You're fired. You transfer to East HQ tomorrow. Please pack your things. You can plot to kill me there because at Briggs, my subordinates would kill you for saying something so horrendous off-handedly like that. I hope you understand." Reila stood back up to her full height, shot Alex a devious look and bent down, grabbing him by the shoulders and setting him on his feet. "If you continue to allow people to act this way towards you, you will not last at Briggs long. Come with me." Reila let him go, but then grabbed his wrist and yanked him towards her office.

[EXIT THREAD]

[Tsuritsa Cooper]

Inieg had been smiling finally, as her and Alex made progress to the dorm, but then Reila, her (for some unknown, randomly screwed up reason) archrival at all things on Earth and main antagonist of her life, showed up. And fired her. Ouch... Well, Inimeg didn't stay smiling, that's for sure. "REILA!! WHY ARE YOU FIRING ME!? ME OF ALL PEOPLE!! IT'S NOT EVEN LIKE I CARE, YOU PSYCHOPATHIC PSYCHO! You know what? You can't fire me, because I QUIT! East City is better than this snowy place of stupid snow! But just know, if I see you outside Briggs, I'll, I'll... Grr... DON'T LEAVE BRIGGS, TSUKINO! Later Alex, it appears I've been FIRED..." She shot a glare at Reila with that word. "And Tsukino! You suck, and I will leave only when YOU see to it that I am at my dorm where I can half-crap SEE for once!" And, although she still couldn't see, she defiantly extended a certain finger at Reila as she walked into the wall 3 times before finding her dorm, getting her things, spitting somewhere close to Reila's general direction, probably on Alex (xD) and walking out of Briggs. "Stupid Reila, such a freaking idiot, firing me, she can't fire me, I'll tell Drachma that Reila wants war with them, I don't even speak Drachman, I HATE DRACHMA! I will murder her in her sleep, and when she wakes up, well I'll do it again!" And thus she crazily ranted on her way to East City...

(~(xD Ouch, Aki. Ah well, Ini deserved it. lol I bet you 10 bucks she gets kicked from East too. lol Anyways, I exit now. xD)~)

[Guest]

After being dragged down the hall for a short while, Inimeg let go of Alex's hand and began to yell at him again. She began to drag him again, and when they approached her room, someone else had arrived...and began to reprimand Inimeg. He managed to free himself from her clutches, and held a hand to his chest, trying to ignore what was going on...but wait. This wasn't just any woman, this was Reila Tsukino, the Head of Fort Briggs! That fact changed everything! Not only was the reprimanding the crazy blind girl, she had fired her! FIRED her! This day was becoming crazier by the minute, and Alex was about to turn and walk away when the Ice Queen had finished lecturing Inimeg and grabbed him by the shoulders, causing him to stand up straight.

"If you continue to allow people to act this way towards you, you will not last at Briggs long. Come with me."

'Ohhh boy,' he thought as Reila yanked his wrist for him to follow. He couldn't be sure what might happen to him when he got there, and he didn't particularly want to leave it to chance...after all, even if she did choose him to be her Head of Military Operations, he was a bit...wimpy, as much as he hated to admit it. Inimeg was the first person so far to question whether Alex was male of female, and he kind of hoped she would be the only one, because he was still trying to get used to the idea himself. He sighed and looked at Reila's back. She seemed strong-willed and passionate about her job, but Alex...he wasn't the most enthusiastic person alive. With another sigh, he followed the woman to her office.

[EXIT THREAD]

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