Raincheck For Murder, Please, eliminating all traces of Nash Tringham

[Kitchen Alchemist]

Lachesis had forced himself to tolerate Nash Tringham's sons, but he had made little progress in his grand scheme: to kill everyone who knew Nash, and forge a new identity for himself from the ashes. It was difficult to break the chains that bound him to the life of a stranger, but the fate knew that one day he would be free of the guilt-trips and friendships of the man whose face he bore. Once every single person who even breathed the name Nash Tringham was six feet under, the homunculus could be truly free. No one would mistake him for that squalid alchemist, and only he would know that the face he wore was only borrowed and long overdue.

[Styx]

"Dad, I just got something in the mail from Major General Sartoris!" Russell Tringham's voice roared merrily from another room in the house. Oh, the soon-to-be fifteen-year-old was quite happy about this. He grabbed a letter-opened he'd gotten as a gift from the Luchesi family a while back then opened the envelope, breaking the Sartoris family crest stamp holding the seal. He'd participated in the last State Alchemist examination (the turn-out for that particular test was very sparse this time around, much to Russell's luck) after studying extensively under the dark and mysterious Cadaver Voice Alchemist for nearly a year.

As his youthful fingers peeled past the envelope and looked at the contents of the letter, his silvery eyes shimmered with delight when he finally made it to the last statement on the page. "OH MY GOD! YES! YEEEEESSSSSS!" The whooping, hollering, and other immature wails of joy emerging from the teenager's room made it clear that whatever he'd recieved was good. He then opened the package and let loose a joyous squeal that would have better suited a giddy girl.

[Kitchen Alchemist]

Lachesis wanted to scream too, but it was not from joy. He would have only been happy if he could have strangled that piglet-like squeal right out of Russell. Somehow, though, he managed to put on a caring, paternal smirk.

"So what'd you get from the major general, son?" he asked, this time with genuine interest. After all, whatever Sartoris had sent him could become a vital element in the Fate's grand scheme. Sartoris had known Nash--that in itself was unforgiveable--but it was possible that both he and Russell could be manipulated in such a way to become each other's demises.

[Styx]

Russell clambered in there, cupping something carefully in his hands as the smile on his face grew to even greater proportions. "Voila!" he crowed, in Cretan, as he held up a silver pocketwatch and let out another one of his laughs...now sounding more like the snotty jerk he could be on a regular basis than some random Armand Sartoris fangirl. Sure, there were some rather creepy things about the Cadaver Voice Alchemist, but Russell Tringham generally stayed out of the way of the reclusive Major General.

Rushing past Nash, he made a mad dash for the desk and decided that now would be the time to send a letter to the Elric brothers, letting them know that from now on, he, the Incarnadine Alchemist, would never have to steal Ed's identity ever again. Wait, no! "Dad!" he called out again, still grinning like a guy who just got lucky. "May I use the phone to call somebody?"

[Kitchen Alchemist]

"Hold on a minute, son," the homunculus grinned as he picked up the pocketwatch, "This is really impressive. Can't I at least tell my own son congratulations before he rushes off to brag to his friends?"

Lachesis placed a clammy hand on Russell's as it clutched the telephone, "Can't it wait a little, Russell? Honestly, if you were about to call the Full Metal Alchemist, I think he'll find out soon enough. If you bother him with it, it'll sound rather pathetic. You see, a man that boasts of himself impresses no one."

[Styx]

"Yeah, but I told Ed that I'd be able to do it myself; I want to be the one who gives him the news...not some random guy!" Russell argued, although he really did enjoy the attention he was recieving from what he still assumed to be his father. My, this called for a celebration. If Russell had any money on him, he'd have insisted on taking both Nash and Fletcher out to dinner, but at the moment, he was poorer than a church mouse, if one would pardon the overused expression. Wrapping his arms around Lachesis, Russell rubbed up close to his old man, making a total fool of himself.

[Kitchen Alchemist]

"Oh, come on now, Russell," Lachesis complained, trying to make it sound loving, "Aren't you too old for that kind of thing?"

He just wanted the teenager to move. Seriously, this was rather creepy for a homunculus. He wanted Russell to lose contact with the outside world, but that did not mean he wanted him to become semi-permanantly attached to his person.

[Styx]

"Who cares?" Russell retorted, laughing jovially as he celebrated his good fortune in a way he'd wanted to do for years. 'I did it without identity theft, cheating, or slander! Things are going to change in my life, and only for the best!' he thought to himself before he finally let go of Nash's leg. Fletcher still needed a good role model, and such a person wouldn't glue himself to his father's leg, no matter how good the news. "Well, anyways, I still want to use the phone."

[Kitchen Alchemist]

There was no way around it. Lachesis could not come up with a good reason to not let Russell use the phone.

"All right, all right," he gave in, "You can call Full Metal, but I still think it'd get under his skin more if he just heard it around. If you make a scene, it's gonna sound like it was really hard for you. Don't you want to make it sound like a piece of cake--just to bother him?"

[Styx]

"Oh, it doesn't matter; it really was a hard test, so I might as well be honest about that!" Russell replied, picking up the phone in his hand. Unfortunately, he got himself so riled up about this that he started to cough again for a moment. Finally regaining his composure, he slowly dialed the number, waiting for someone at the military front desk to pick up. When some woman named Second Lieutenant Maria Ross picked up, he let loose a sigh of relief. "Lieutenant, this is the Incarnadine Alchemist, Russell Tringham. Is there any way I can have this call transferred to Edward Elric's dormitory?"

[Kitchen Alchemist]

((OOC: Uh, Styx, you play Ross so I can't really make her say or do anything. I mean...that'd be god-modding.))

[Styx]

Eventually, the Second Lieutenant was able to transfer Russell's call over toward the Elric Brothers' dormitory. The new Incarnadine Alchemist's heart was pounding as the phone continued to ring. 'Please be in the room, Ed,' he thought to himself, one of the world's sappiest expressions on his face at that moment. This one, sadly enough, could even put the late Maes Hughes (even when armed with a photograph of Elysia) to shame. In the teenager's pocket was his silver watch, something he knew even most adults couldn't possess. 'I'll show you just how great of an Alchemist I, Russell Tringham, can be! You have a worthy rival now.'