THIRD REBELLION ❅ TEXT

[glaciates]

[A text hits the network around noon. It's very short and to the point, though it's not specifically addressed to anyone.]

How do you tell the difference between someone you're just friends with and someone you're romantically interested in?

[...Obviously it comes from Isaac. No one else could fail social on this level. At least he was trying to keep his fail minimized! The text was supposed to be private to Hughes. Unfortunately... Isaac is a fail with technology too. Have fun trolling!]

Comments

[derpsaboutfamily]

[ And no matter what Kimblee says about calling Maes being a bad idea, he's really the only person who's actually held down a meaningful relationship. Ffff ]

...............

[ 'Awhile' .... probably not someone he's met here, then. He hasn't been here for a while. And as far as Maes knew, he hadn't met that many people that he didn't already know before. And this person is a friend.

.... And Maes never thought of Isaac as someone who made friends all that easily to begin with.

Which makes this all kind of troubling. Because. The pool of Amestrian bachelors is kind of... yeah... no. ]

What makes this one different from any of your other friendships?

[glaciates]

...Hughes...

[Give him a moment for his brain to stop crying...]

I don't make friends. I've never been very good at maintaining friendships. Besides, the majority of the people I've been acquainted with, I knew because of the military.

[His expression hardens.]

I didn't consider any of them friends back home. Things have changed a bit, yes, but not enough for me to forgive what we've done.

[Isaac relaxes again though - it's clear Hughes is trying to figure this out. He knows Hughes is smarter than he originally gave him credit for; it shouldn't take long for Hughes to piece it together.]

He's different. The relationship with him has always been different. He... took interest in me and actually helped me during Ishval.

[That's all you're going to get for now, but it shouldn't be too difficult to obtain more information if you push!]

[derpsaboutfamily]

[ Hey! Why wasn't he given more credit? He's smarter than all the rest of them. :| plus, this just solidified his theory that this is, in fact, someone from Amestris. ]

So you'd say this is your only friend, then?

What makes him a friend and not anyone else? I'm sure plenty of people have taken an interest to you here and tried to offer help.

[ Hey, why isn't Maes a friend? HE OFFERED FRIENDSHIP. ]

[glaciates]

Well, that's not... exactly what I meant. Back home he was the closest thing I had to a friend.

[...You know, before he ditched the military and didn't bother helping him escape from prison until seven years later, whoops. That's totally how friends work!]

Here I do have friends. And there is a difference between them and... him. I can't really explain it very well.

[But he'll try!]

...When I spent time around him, I just want to make him happy. I like spending time around other people, and I wouldn't choose to only spend time with him, but I would pick him over... everyone else.

[Is he making sense? He feels like he's not making any sense.]

[derpsaboutfamily]

I think you've hit the nail on the definition of romantically interested, there.

[ Also he's figured out who you're talking about.

He talked to you in the army, too. So he's aware that the only person you really spent much time talking to back then was Kimblee. Also, he knows Armstrong and Roy well enough to know that you didn't spend time between the war and now talking to them.

So Kimblee, then.

... He's not sure what to do with this information. ]

[glaciates]

...Yeah, that's what I thought.

[Isaac glances away then; he's not really sure what to do with this information. He wanted to figure this out, but now that he has...]

[Hughes hasn't pressed him for details about who it is - that means he's figured it out, right? Isaac finally glances back at Hughes, taking a moment to steel himself.]

[He's well aware of just how horrible Kimblee is. If he ever had any chance of redemption for his past crimes, he's killed it already.]

...You've figured it out, haven't you?

[derpsaboutfamily]

Kimblee.

[ Not conveying any sort of emotion either way for Kimblee. Just... neutral. ]