Flying Blind

Play Damsel In Distress And Maybe You'll Get A Friend Like That

With a loud thud and a dramatic sigh, Alfonse, who could not have been more ecstatic about his arrival, let his luggage down in the Essantian port.

-Oh, thank God we've finally landed, I swear I'm not leaving the ground for the next month. I'll never complain about travelling on waters again for as long as I live-

Alistair wasn't quite sure if we wanted to roll his eyes or laugh.

-I'm sure if you bat your eyelashes for long enough you'll find a boat captain also willing to bring you back home for free.

-Well, it'd be your loss, he shrugged. I'm a great conversationalist.

-When you don't catch a glimpse of the ship's height and collapse to the floor?

-Exactly.

Alfonse dug around his coat pockets, pulling out a map.

-This should... help me reach my destination just fine. I'm familiar with the area around it, but not with walking to the house from the port, he explained, gesturing vaguely to the map. It's not a very long distance, so...

He shifted in his spot, visibly awkward at finally saying his goodbyes. They'd spent all that time together in the past week, who would listen to him curse at his awful customers once they parted? Oh, but they could surely manage to keep in touch, what, with Alistair and his deliveries-

-Alfonse? Did you hear me? I asked- oh! Sorry, Alistair smiled, seeing the other's head jerk in his direction. You were...

-I was... yes, sorry, thinking about something else, he laughed. It's hard to get rid of the habit. Haven't really been sleeping that well, you know, it happe-

Alistair raised his hand to stop him, then patted him on the back.

-It's fine, honestly. I was saying, er, do you need help with that map? My ship has a radar, but I'm decent with reading maps, he shrugged. And since the ship's been unloaded, I could walk with you, you could tell me a bit about your plans here... if you want to, I mean. I'm just curious.

-Oh! Of course, if you can read this, be my guest. So far, all I managed to figure out was that I seemed to be holding it the wrong way up for the first few seconds.

And so they headed forward, Alfonse somehow constantly a few steps ahead of Alistair despite claiming he did not know the area well enough. He seemed at ease on the Essantian streets, properly fitting in with most of its citizens. Every few minutes he'd move his bag from hand to hand, glancing at it with concern whenever it made a faint sound like glasses bumping against eachother.

-I was wondering, he piped up all of a sudden, will you leave Essant as soon as you normally leave ports?

-No, I don't really think so. I haven't been in Essant in a while, so I'd like to spend a bit of time here. How about you? You've said you're visiting some friends, if I remember correctly.

-Mhm, I have a bit of business with an old friend of mine, I'll be staying at his house. There's a handful of people coming, we're... honestly like family, he laughed.

-Oh, that's really nice. Are you celebrating something?

-Well, it's not exactly a celebration, he replied, glancing away. But it's... something related to my brother, I've told you about him. A long story. But it's not truly such an unhappy event as it sounds. It's going to be fun, he grinned.

Alistair smiled, nodding politely. Just a couple of streets left and they'd reach the house. As rude as it might sound, he would've been lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit curious about... who would Alfonse's type of people honestly consider family.

-Oh, there it is! the other exclaimed, pointing towards one of the houses.

The bottom floor of the house looked like the entrance to a bar, or maybe a restaurant. Above it stood two other floors with curtained windows, from one of which a man stood watching the street in front of him.

-That's the host, mentioned Alfonse. I don't think he's seen us yet. Hmm... we didn't really have an exact date set for gathering together, and I'm the one that's come from the farthest away, soo I hope I'm not the first to arrive, he laughed.

The man at the window glanced towards them, then promptly closed the window. "How rude." Alfonse snickered to himself. He stepped in front of the door, placed his bag down then knocked. The sound of footsteps echoed through the house, then the same man as before opened the door and shook Alfonse's hand.

-Alfonse, mate, I see you've once more managed to fly across the sea without getting thrown out of the ship.

-Edmond, my friend, I see you've managed to run that bar for yet another year without getting your drink poisoned.

"Ah," thought Alistair, "I see why they're friends now."

The man stared at Alistair for a second, scratching his beard as if trying to remember something.

-And you are? he asked, extending the other his hand as well.

-Alistair, sir. Calderwood. Friend of Alfonse's. I'm the pilot of the... aforementioned ship that he didn't get thrown out of, he joked.

-A man with nerves of steel, I see. Well, isn't that nice. Good for you, Alfonse. I'm Edmond. Ah, but why stand here in the middle of the street? he added quickly. Come on, come inside.

-I'm sorry, replied Alistair, shaking his head. I need to return to the ship, and... heh, hopefully get some sleep. I walked Alfonse here to help with reading the map.

-Did you now? Oh, poor Alfonse, Edmond lamented sarcastically. I'm sure he's forgotten such a long and complicated route from the port to my house. Surely, he nodded towards Alfonse, bringing him was something simply necessary.

-Well, come on now, it would've been impolite to refuse him. Anyways, he continued, changing the subject. Alistair, hey, I think we both have our own things to do later this day, but I remember you saying you'd like to see a bit of this city before you leave. Maybe you could come to the bar tomorrow morning, I don't know, get some coffee, and I could show you around a little bit, if you'd like. I'm familiar with the city, I'll show you the good... and the bad restaurants, he said, nudging his head in the direction of Edmond's bar.

-Sounds good, the other laughed. Alright, I'll be on my way. Have fun.

Alfonse smiled, then picked his bag up and headed inside. Edmond lingered outside for a bit, seemingly trying to remember something.

-You look... exactly like your father, he mentioned sadly.

Alistair turned around from afar, just to ask if he'd heard correctly, but all he saw was a door slamming shut. That was odd. He didn't remember seeing that man, or hearing his father say anything about it. But then again, he'd also been a pilot, and Edmond looked around his father's age. Well, a bit older, but it was understandable, given the circumstances. Maybe they knew eachother from one of his travels?

Alright, he was thinking too much about it. Never mind all that, he'd simply ask about it the next day.