((This does not take place in present time for what's going on in the Nexus- we've been out of the loop here for a few years, and as I said on another catching up post, I don't like saying my characters have lived in limbo while I've been gone. Their lives have gone on and they've done stuff, I just haven't been playing it out or... really letting anyone else know. :D;; Well, to be fair, we've poked and played out some of this on IRC, but stress from real-life-sucks crap made it difficult for us to get stuff from IRC logs onto IJ. So we're playing catch up now. This happened towards the end of construction of the second building- Al and Ed had just finished the fourth floor for the most part and were putting in the last bit of work and the roof so the place could be called done except for decor and furnishing. We've got a couple more uh... big things to catch up. :D;;; Sorry, guys.
For right now, since we're just playing catch up, this isn't open, it's just story. If you think your character would really really really have an appearance and say, feel free to comment OOC and let us know. ^_^))It had been three years that Edward had been in the Nexus, and not quite as long since the stressful automail surgery. His family had started rebuilding itself during that time- Riza and Alfons, then his little brother, and an older brother that seemed more content that he had a place where he could curl up in cat form in a sunbeam and remain largely undisturbed for the day. While he still had days where reality did not seem fully synched up in his head, he had, by all appearances, recovered from the months spent in Munich with no food, a broken soulbond, and an unbearable loneliness.
Appearances can be deceiving.
While Edward and Riza had noticed a certain transcience to their residents list, given the nature of the Nexus, it was very common for there to be only one, if any, apartments still available if someone new came to the door, needing a place to stay on a low budget.
Edward, being a good candidate for being George Bailey's alternate- in heart if not in physique- didn't like the thought that one day, someone would come looking for a place and he'd have nothing to offer. So after some creative book-juggling to make the budget allow for the raw materials (which were easy to cheat on- natural resources, god bless 'em) and the utility hook ups, Edward and his family had agreed that a second building was in order.
Like the first, it was four stories, red brick, with thick, well-insulated (and semi-soundproofed, god love the boy and his foresight) walls, simple interior decor- all units prefurnished, of course- a basement laundry facility and roof top access. It's taken just shy of a month- while their teacher had taught them to use more conventional means than alchemy whenever necessary, both Edward and his brother had been willing to cheat for this project and with two master alchemists, even being methodical and triple checking everything, the time the work took had decreased dramatically.
At this particular point in time, all that's left is the final work on the interior walls of the fourth floor, and then the roof.
While Edward has been keeping up with his sparring with his brother and his physical activity, life has been rather slow for the Elrics up to this point, and with few exceptions, it had been an incredibly long time since Edward had performed any transmutations this large and high-stress. Nor has he had reason to push himself physically quite as hard as the construction process has been pushing him.
And of course, he's an Elric. He has the natural urge to show off, even if he
has otherwise become largely a hermit. This urge to show off means he's pushing himself even more than necessary right now. He's an Edward Elric, they all have an unsual ability to handle that sort of physical overload, and recover quickly when they finally
do cross the line. He doesn't think anything of it. Neither does his brother.
So he doesn't think anything of picking up a large beam of wood that will replace a stud beam in the wall of what will be apartment 15B that had gotten damaged, all by himself. He thinks he may take a break here after this, though- he's getting a bit dizzy. It's been awhile since he's stopped to take a drink of water- that's probably all it is.
((ETA: Thread finished.))