First principles! (backdated to a couple of days after Holi)

[rewritethis]

Characters: Edward Elric and Rapunzel
Location: Library
Rating: PG for mild language, probably nothing else.
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Apparently Rapunzel gets alchemy lessons now! Alchemy lessons are cool. Ed getting over himself long enough to actually be helpful? Less so.

The stack of paper on this table wasn't the thickness of a regular textbook, but it was certainly dry enough for at least three. In the figurative sense. In the literal sense, the ink was still damp on a few of the more intimidating diagrams he'd drawn, so Edward had laid those pages out over the rest of the table for the time being.

He fidgeted with a corner of the closest one until his wrist twinged painfully enough to make him stop. ...Hopefully she wouldn't ask for more notes. He would've - even for a basic grounding in the theory, he'd glossed over a lot of details - but then, he obviously didn't need the things. The thought that he might have brought too many notes and not prepared to do anything with them had yet to cross his mind.

Nothing to do but wait, until either she showed up (who knew how often she checked her computer?) or he got bored. Hell, the latter was starting to happen already, so he wouldn't be here too long.

Comments

[rewritethis]

Having restored the notes to their rightful positions, which was to say slapped them unceremoniously onto the table in front of Rapunzel, Ed tried to smile. "Don't worry about it. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. It's just..." Well, he could vent. He'd done it on less provocation before. He exhaled slowly. "You might even be right. It might be different. I wish it wasn't, but what do I know? Not like the universe gives a damn. Any of the universes."

[seethelanterns]

Rapunzel was quiet and just sat listening as Ed spoke. "Well, I'm willing to try understand what you mean. New discoveries happen all the time, right? So what we consider fact now might not be as we learn more. But that does not mean what we believe as true now holds any less meaning."

She tried to reassure him and cheer him up, though she couldn't be sure it would work or not. If he really did seem down she could always just offer to take the notes and read through them, asking any questions she had later if he would prefer.

[rewritethis]

"That's -" true, actually. Not bad for someone clueless. He shrugged; if it looked half-hearted, it was mostly because he was still sparing that left wrist. "It's one thing to rewrite an old theory. Another when you're naive enough to think it'll somehow never get old."

But this lesson had definitely gone off the rails by now. What could he do except pick a random direction and push? Uh, metaphorically. "So... what next? Any other questions?"

[seethelanterns]

"Oh. Um, well....do you think, if I read through these notes and maybe ask any questions I might have as they come up?" since he seemed kind of tired and she didn't want or mean to frustrate him or anything so perhaps a break would do him some good.

[rewritethis]

What, did she think Ed couldn't teach the rest either? He could teach the rest! They were smaller concepts! But... probably not until he was feeling a bit less distracted, to be fair. "Okay, do what you want," he told her grudgingly. "I'll probably still be here."

He stood up to leave, and paused. "You can figure out where these loose pages go by yourself, right?"

[seethelanterns]

"Okay. Um, just to be sure though, if you could help me make sure it's all in order?" Because the topic was not one Rapunzel was too familiar with, she might not have necessarily understood if the pages were not in order after some had fallen off the table and all. She was happy to leave Ed be for a bit and read in her dorm to give him some time to hopefully calm down a little.

[rewritethis]

"So you can't, is what you're saying."

Ed fought to stop himself from glowering too obviously as he started slotting the by now mostly dry pages back into the paper pile. She'd get the wrong impression.

When the table was almost clear, he picked up the remaining loose sheets, eyeballed them one last time, then crushed them into a ball more violently than was strictly necessary. "There. That's all of them."