2nd Floor Common Room, late

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

Edward has cleared a space on the floor in the common room and has spread out all over it. He's seated in the center of a mess of stuff... some books are piled and scattered about, there are several bags and vials of strange-looking material mixed in with notes and loose chalk. He will occasionally mix some ingredients together and clap, then fiddle with the result.

He's clearly up to something.

[OOC: Come poke at Ed, he's bored.]

Comments

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

John is now wandering the halls, unable to sleep because the mun wants to game, dammit. He sees some dude playing patticake with the floor. Dude's wearing a shiny watch.

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

Edward glances up from chewing on the end of a pencil when Johnthe stranger enters the common room. He quickly jots more notes down, and turns over what looks like a vase merged with a soccer ball.

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"Uh... Modern Art project there?" OMG MUN WANTS SHINY ALCHEMIST WATCH

"Couldn't sleep, either?"

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

"No, not really." Edward replies absently, clapping his hands and grabbing the weird vase-soccer ball hybrid. The two objects come apart, and look none the worse for wear. Edward makes an interested noise and jots something down. "I'm not in any art classes ... I've never much had an eye for it."

He sits back and finally looks up at Johnthe stranger. "Naah. Plus, it's a Saturday and there's that curfew in place. Just needed to get out of the room for a bit."

Mun has the shiny alchemist watch. (http://pics.greatestjournal.com/userpic/23403392/868813) XD

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"Wha--what the fuck? Did you just unmeld that... thing?"

John backed away a step. Magic? Combining things? No, there had to be a tech solution...or was there?

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

Edward made an affirmative noise. "Well, unmeld is an interesting way to put it, but yes. I've been testing some array theory on common objects... research makes the world go round." He taps his pencil on the notebook page thoughtfully.

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"So... you do this combination thing all the time." John sits down in a nearby sofachair.

"So what can you do with this magic? Are you a witch?"

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

He laughs at that last question, rolling his eyes. "A witch? Are you kidding? Magic doesn't exist! Well... I take that back. Where *I'm* from, magic doesn't exist. Here is an entirely different can of worms." He waves a hand in the air.

"What you just saw me do is alchemy. One can use alchemy to do a lot of things, as it's a very versatile science, but it has a few laws. The Law of Equivalent Trade is the biggie." He laughs quietly. "You can't gain without sacrifices, is the gist of it. The Law of Conservation of Mass is also important... you can't create something from nothing, which is what seperates alchemy from magic."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well, there's no killer robots in my time, but there will be, and there are here."

"It's a science? Like, a real science like Physics and Chemistry and Sociology and not a fake science like Primate Anthropology or Ancient Egyptian Calculus?"

[ihatedenmark.livejournal.com]

*Hamlet has finally come out of his room and wanders by the common room. He notices the mess, blinks, and pop his head in.*

Dare I ask what is going on here?

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Hamlet," Edward says. "Just working on some array theory...combining and seperating matter to ensure mass stays consistent."

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

"Of course it's a real science," Edward said, frowning at "Primate Anthropology" but deciding not to ask. "It's not very far removed from Chemistry, actually. It's a very visible thing with a lot of study poured into it where I come from."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"Apperantly, it's the science of magic."

He gives Hamlet the once over, and snickers.
"Nice pajamas. Really love the Ebeneezer Scrooge sleeping hat."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"So you add two pinches of Eye of Newt, add a titrate of bat guano, mix in some hydrochloric acid, and you've got nifty things? What's with the clap and slap?"

[ihatedenmark.livejournal.com]

The science of magic? Alchemy? I always thought that interest died out with the Enlightenment.


I've been sick much of this week and these were a gift from my Father. Besides, black caps help keep the heat in and stop people from pouring poison in your ears while you are sleeping.

[ihatedenmark.livejournal.com]

All the Alchemy of read of in book always involved making Faustian pacts with devils to gain supernatural powers.

*eyes Ed a little warily*

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

Edward makes a face. "It's a ... tad more complicated than that. If you want to make something, or alter something, it's got to be of similar properties. What you would do with eye of newt or bat guano is beyond me, unless you were messing with chimera composition. An alchemist usually has to use an array to channel the proper energy for transmutation. I... well, let's just say that I'm special in that regard."

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

He scratches his head. "I don't believe in gods or devils, only in mortal men. Although monsters certainly exist." Edward frowns. "The alchemy I study is a science, dealing with composition and transmutation of matter."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I thought it was some Middle Age nonsense, but if he's able to cross a soccerball with a vase, and revert 'em, it's magic. Copperfield or copper pot, either way."

No, really, it looks good. Velvet is really your fabric. And the horsie design is very macho.

and maybe it's not poison that they're pouring in your ears, it's fashion advice

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"Faust? Isn't he one of the department heads?"

John takes a step back, again.

Or he would, if the chair wasn't so comfy.

"So is it science or soul, Blondie?"

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"So this isn't that mumbojumbo magic, this is... what, Alternate Physics? Can you turn lead into gold?"

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

Edward rolls his eyes. "It's a science, nothing more, nothing less. I don't believe in gods or devils, only the Gate. I didn't gain any supernatural powers ... in fact, I lost limbs. Everything I know I learned the hard way, through study and practical application."

[alchemic-bean.livejournal.com]

He nods. "Yup, it's easy. Just nudging a few atoms this way and that. Of course, it's doubly illegal where I come from not that that's ever stopped me before for economic reasons."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"The Gate? Shit, not another portal. Whaddya mean, you've lost limbs? Look fine t'me. No obvious deformaties, no second head, nuttin."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"So why're you special? And what's this chimera? You create like harpies and that?"