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[equivalences]

ELRIC.EDWARD@cdc.org
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FROM: elric.edward@cdc.org

Do I really have to answer this?

[retry]

FROM: amber@cdc.org

It's a question. Yes.

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FROM: elric.edward@cdc.org

Neither! You're just trying to get me to answer so you can make a crude joke out of it.

[retry]

FROM: amber@cdc.org

I wasn't the one who started with the bad words :P

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[ whatever, he's old enough to use bad words!! ]

FROM: elric.edward@cdc.org

What's wrong with what I said? He deserves every insult I hurl at him!!!!

[retry]

FROM: amber@cdc.org

Why? Because he called you short?

FROM: amber@cdc.org

I'm coming over. Put the kettle on the stove.

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FROM: elric.edward@cdc.org

He did way more than just that!!! But it was before you were enlisted.

FROM: elric.edward@cdc.org

We don't have a stove. But yeah, sure.

[ When Amber moves to the tree camp, she'll find Pop resting at the base of the trees (for some reason, Ed made her a gothic-looking doghouse out of stone). She can't exactly get up there, so ...

Ed is watching from the window. ]

[retry]

FROM: amber@cdc.org

Did he make you short?

[ Someone should maybe tell her not to insult people whose home she's meaning to visit but oh well.

Amber arrives a few minutes later dressed in a blue and white baseball jumper a few sizes too big over the default new recruit pants, instead of her usual uniform. A way to blend in? Perhaps. She doesn't knock, choosing instead to wander the area and occasionally look up to find the tree house fort containing one Ed. Only when she sees him does she raise a hand in greeting. ]

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[ Ed is in the middle of lounging by the window, still fuming from reading Amber's last text. He has an alchemy book open on his blackglass but he doesn't seem so interested in it at the moment (that would be because he's read it a thousand times). When he spots that familiar head of hair, he snaps into alertness, ignoring Amber's greeting in favor of yelling at her from above. ]

I am not short! Who were you calling short?!

[retry]

[ Precisely the reaction she wants. Amber just laughs, stepping closer to stand almost directly below him, one hand shielding her eyes as if she needs it to aid her vision. ]

That's relative, of course. I've been shorter, so I would have called you tall then.

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That does't make any sense. You mean -- when you were a kid?

[ He doesn't find that worth a mention. Of course everyone's been shorter than 5'4" at one point of their lives??? ]

I'm pulling down the ladder, if you still wanna come up. [ Ed moves further inside. ]

[retry]

[ Amber cups her hands around her mouth to reply when he moves back inside. ]

Don't worry! I could get shorter again!

[ That's reassuring, right? ]

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[ THAT CONTINUES TO NOT MAKE SENSE. A ladder should descend half a minute later. Ed is looking down at her from the hole that opens into the treehouse. ]

Nothing you say ever makes sense. How can a person get shorter? [ Older people do seem to shrink in height in some cases but he really doesn't think that's what she means. ]

[retry]

[ Unfortunately for Ed, her attention has shifted from this topic about height to the treehouse, so she begins climbing with clear delight on her face until she finally gets to the platform. It's a real treehouse! ]

I think it needs a little decorating.

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[ Ah he can see that her attention has casually shifted. He's still awfully curious but now he's assuming she just says things to confuse him or throw him off his game. ]

Yeah I was ... thinking of throwing in a horned skull or two but everyone kept complaining.

[retry]

Why a horned skull? Is that supposed to be cool?

[ Nothing you say ever makes sense either, Ed. She proceeds to walk and crawl about the place to check every nook and cranny for hidden treasures maybe. ]

Flowers would be better.

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[ Way to act like you're 8 years old, Amber. Ed, the Designated Adult of the treehouse, stands and watches her with his arms crossed. He does like it when people appreciate his handiwork, but a treehouse isn't anything that special to him. ]

I don't know much about gardening. [ Granted, he could ask Ino, but flowers don't keep his interest at the moment. Ino might be moving some of her potted plants into the tree fort soon, anyway. ] And horned skulls are cool. It's an uncontested fact that they're badass.

[retry]

[ Hey, who built a tree house in the first place? She also goes to where Ed stood when he talked to her on the ground, wanting to see the view from where he was then. ]

Why? Because it shows that you're capable of hunting horned animals?

[ Her words are challenging, maybe, but her tone is only curious. ]

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No. [ He wonders how much of this relates to his embarrassing failure with the harpies... That was a special case. Ed is capable of hunting animals, but he doesn't believe in bringing their remains back like some of trophy. ]

I was planning to sculpt them out of metal.

[retry]

[ Ah, yes, his little breakdown. That time when he almost threw up all over their shoes even after that terrifying display of power with the spikes. Fortunately, that episode is far from her mind now. She really only wants to play in a treehouse. ]

But what does that prove?

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That I have badass taste! What else? [ THERE'S REALLY NO DEEP MEANING TO THIS. ]

Spikes, skulls and horns really get the blood pumping!

[retry]

[ Still unimpressed . . . ]

Why would you want your blood pumping when you're sitting in a treehouse?