video

[saintedsinner]

-=The video feed kicks in as soon as he sneezes.=-

Well, there's enough of those damn feathers in here to make a pillow or four. The least you people could have done was swept them out when the wings came off, you know.

Comments

[Video]

[saintedsinner]

No, when are you available?

[Video]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

Anytime, really!

[Video]

[saintedsinner]

Alright. Come over.

[Video] offline this?

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

Um. Where?

[Video//Private//Unhackable]Yesh!

[saintedsinner]

[x,y] Don't share them with anyone else.

[Video//Private//Unhackable] [Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

Right! Yes! Of course!

[Feed switches off and Merlin starts on his way. Eventually, after getting lost on his way, he manages to find the place.]

Er... hello?

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

-=There's a crap load of pillows on the porch with Ed sitting in a chair, brooding in their direction. He looks up and sees the gangly fellow=-

Hi. You finally made it.

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[Looking slightly sheepish.]

Oh, er, yes. Sorry.

I got a bit lost.

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

Good. -=a bit of a smirk there, motions to the empty chair across from him.=-

So. Automail. Why are you interested in it?

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[Merlin takes to the steps and almost falls flat on his face on his way up them, but manages to keep his balance by wildly flailing his arms and generally looking like a complete buffoon. He throws himself into the chair and offers Ed a hesitant smile.]

Um. It wasn't so much automail at first as helping at the clinic in general, really, but Winry and I got to talking and she explained automail to me and... [Here comes the excited gushing.] It's just so amazing! Using machines to replace lost limbs and help people function beyond just living through the loss. And I...

[And here he seems to grow embarrassed.]

I just want to be able to help people, I guess.

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

-=The falling all over himself loses points with Ed. Dammit, he doesn't need a clutz working on his arm and leg! And he knows Winry has a marksman's skill with a wrench at a hundred paces.=-

Mm.


-=He listens. And then he comes to the scary realization that he's found Winry's brother from another world.=-

You're a wanna be gearhead, eh?


-=Then he starts laughing.=-

That's... that's amazing.

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[Merlin gets more clumsy when he's anxious. Or when he's expected to walk any great distance...]

A... a gear-head? I suppose, yes, if that's what it...

What's amazing?

[Why are you laughing at him, Ed, did he say something wrong~?]

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

You! You're.... you're a boy version of Winry! -=still laughing. He's trying to stop, honest.=-

-=Then he's dead serious.=-

But if I ever catch you trying to throw a wrench at my head for any goddamned reason, I'll kill you.

-=Oh shit, son! And you haven't done anything yet!=-

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[Merlin fails to see what's so funny about this, he likes Winry.]

Why would I throw a wrench at your head?

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

Never mind about that. Just don't do it.

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[Frowning.]

I won't-that's a bit counterproductive to healing people anyway.

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

Yeah, well, that's why people have common sense. So you want to help people. Get them back on their feet and shit.

...

Automail engineering isn't easy. There's more to it than just putting pieces together and then snapping the parts up onto a body.

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

Er. Yes.

[And he's listening to you, Ed, he really is.]

... I would imagine not. These are fully functioning limbs, aren't they? They've got to connect to the body's nerves without damaging them or anything. And I can't imagine that the limbs themselves are terribly simplistic either.

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

That's right. -=he lifts his hand-hasn't bothered to glove his hands in a while, and makes the automail hand into a fist. It's not as smooth as a flesh hand, but he flexes all the fingers, watching as he speaks.=-

The nerves connect to the wires and the wires make the gears move. That's all I can tell you from my end about the technical features. You have to make the limbs durable enough so that they can weather time and abuse, but you have to make them light enough so that the person can actually use them.

-=Case in point, Ed's a short guy, but he has muscles=-

Surgery's fuckin' hard. Recovery's even harder. Your work isn't done when the ports are in and you're waiting for the bone to heal around the bolts. Normally it takes a person about three years to completely integrate into automail.

-=glances up=-

I did it in one. I was spitting blood eight months out of that twelve. If you have to outfit another person with this? Don't let them do it in a year. There's fevers and pain and a whole shitload of crap you have to deal with. I heard grown men scream during surgery, begging Winry and Pinako to stop. You think you have the fortitude to keep going when people are sobbing their eyes out, going through hell as you set fire to their nerves and drill into their bones?

-=While it's unlikely that Merlin would have to do that, if he can't handle it, Ed doesn't want him anywhere near his arm and leg.=-

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[He thinks about this seriously for a moment before he speaks.]

I don't know if I'd have much opportunity to give people automail on my own - we don't have anything even remotely like this back home, but...

But I have seen all sorts of terrible things, assisting the castle physician. And while I might not enjoy seeing people in pain, I'm not going to flinch from it if it insures a better quality of life for them in the end.

Besides, it's a little insulting to them and their struggles to say that it's too much for me, that I can't handle it, I think.

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

-=Smirks, but just a little.=-

Good answer, actually. We don't want pity. Just get us through the hard parts, and we'll be fine.

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[He almost smiles again, but instead decides on a firm, unwavering look; the same kind he donned to confront Nimueh and trade his life for Arthur, the same one he had when he drank from the poisoned cup, and again, the second time, when he tried to do so again.]

I can do that.

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

-=stretches with a yawn and drapes himself more over the chair.=-

Then I guess you're Winry's now, huh? That is, if you're going to learn about automail, she's the only one around.

[Offline]

[lastdragonlord.livejournal.com]

[And now he does relent to smile.]

Guess so.

[Offline]

[saintedsinner]

Then you'll be reporting to Winry from now on, I guess. -=Grumps slightly=- I think she has a maintenance session due soon.