((Disclaimer: I do not own 'Fullmetal Alchemist' or 'Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood'. 'Fullmetal Alchemist' and 'Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood' belong to 'Hiromu' Hiromi Arakawa.))
Prompt: Curry. (I had curry for dinner… my favourite dinner!)
"Curry!" Ling exclaimed, snapping Lan Fan from her pondering thoughts as he clapped his hands together; commending himself for his sudden brain-wave. "Beef curry!" He elaborated excitedly, eyes lighting up as he grinned toothily. "Remember that yummy restaurant we went to a while ago?" He paused, lifting his thumb and fore-most finger to his chin comically as he thought. "South… Dorian Street, right? I think…" He mused thoughtfully. "Anyway, remember I had the curry and you had that pasta salad-thingy and the usher at the door gave me a recipe for the curry?"
"Of course, My Lord." Lan Fan replied without so much as batting an eyelid. After all, a vast majority of her training days had involved memory and recall exercises from time to time – her Grandfather insisting it's importance in serving the Young Master and his needs. Furthermore, that pasta salad had been an absolute knock-out.
They sat in the cosy, comfortable dressage of their apartment on a leathered sofa, opposite one another- a small place to stay while the three of them were in Amestris doing dealings surrounding the stone. It wasn't the fanciest place going around, but it was Ling who had opted for a cheaper stay – insisting money shouldn't be wasted on such trivial things. (Why spend money on accommodation when you could spend it on delicious Amestrian food?)
"Let's have curry for dinner!" Ling chimed gleefully, dancing around, the couch bobbing as he moved. "It might not be as easy as grilling fish but I can follow the recipe and learn how to cook something yum!" As he spoke, he leant further and further forward over the dining table; elbows grooved to the flat, moulding wooden surface – an old habit of his.
Lan Fan's face, under the shield of her trusty mask, grew a bright, peachy pink, quickly heating up the whole of her face.
"And I can look after Lan for once!" He exclaimed happily, using her pet name (much to her mortification), only centimetres from her face, playfully cocking his head."Ne?" He chuckled, awaiting her approval like an over-stimulated child.
He didn't actually mean to do these things on purpose – he guessed it was just his soft spot for Lan Fan taking over – hence why he always almost ended up particularly on her lap when ever the two were alone.
She noddled, rattled, "My L-Lord can do as he pleases," she replied, cursing at her shaky voice. "After all, isn't curry Young Master's new favourite food?" She asked in an attempt to draw his attention away from her position of distress, biting her lip tenderly.
He eyed her for a moment, grin fading from his face upon hearing her voice; "You sound a little nervous Lan," he drawled (that nickname of hers). "Don't you like curry?" He asked, concerned, an innocent look plastered upon his face. He didn't want he to eat something that she didn't like; that would be terrible.
"N-no! It's not that Young Lord!" she spluttered, instantaneously mentally slapping herself for speaking in such an improper way. "I do like curry…"
Although that wasn't necessary the whole truth, she didn't like curry and she didn't hate it.
Ling's face lit up; a pleasant smile tracing his (handsome) features. As long as she was okay with it…
"Then let's make it!" He chuckled, reaching out a hand and grabbing her sleeve as he stood, rising with her. He beamed, clearly pumped for the curry-making ahead of them, as he dragged her to the tiny apartment kitchen.
The kitchen itself consisted of a tiny décor collection - your everyday kitchen: two sets of over head cabinets, an oven, a stove top and a handful of cupboards to hold items and ingredients waist down. Nothing quite like the enormous palace kitchens in Xing, but still, Ling found it homey.
He hovered above the stove-top, beaming as he reached into his pant pocket. He had bought some new 'snazzy' – as the young ones called it – pants from a local Amestrian fashion shop, known as 'jeans'. Although Fuu didn't necessarily approve of them, insisting that a future King should not wear such items of clothing, Ling had brushed it off, proud of his new establishing 'fashion sense.'
He tugged out a slip of paper, brightly coloured and decorated vibrantly with lines upon lines of detailed Amestrian writing.
He cleared his throat and pointed to the list of ingredients upon the page – at the very top of the paper – and read aloud:
"2 kilograms beef, 6 table-spoons curry paste, 2 tins of coconut milk, 1 broccoli, 1 cauliflower, 3 potatoes…"
He paused and gave a small 'huff' of approval, clearly hungry at the mere thought of delicious food as a small amount of drool trickled from his lower lip, eyes glazing over gleefully.
"Pardon me, Master…" Lan Fan piped up, breaking the silence and drawing him from his happy place.
"Yes Lan Fan?" Ling replied, turning to face her with a swift notion of his head – long ponytail bobbing as he went.
"How many people does this dish serve?" She inquired. "Excuse my rudeness." She added nervously, eyes shy behind her mask, bowing deeply.
He simply waved his hand, gesturing for her to rise silently. "Relax," he grinned. "And the recipe says about 6 people. But don't worry! I'll eat 3 for sure and you can have the other 3 servings!"
She blushed; suddenly concious of her weight.*
"It'll be fun!" Ling encouraged; reaching under the cabinet for a pan. "Let's hop to it!"
"Weeeeelllllllll…" Ling drew out with a half-hearted sigh. "We may not have beef or cauliflower and broccoli, but we do have boiled potatoes and curry paste!" Ling chimed, a sad attempt to cheer himself up, over the sound of his rumbling belly. He sat on the sofa with Lan Fan - a spoon in hand, a bowl on his lap cosily.
He lifted the spoon to his mouth, chewing slowly as he gnawed upon his tongue and the inside of his cheek.
"Boooooooooo!" Ling suddenly wailed; rivers of never ending tears flowing down his face. "This is horrible!"*
Lan Fan, sitting on the opposite end of the sofa with her own dish of cold curry paste and potatoes flinched; her face a painted expression of pure worry and concern as she rushed to his side.
It was her job to serve him, to keep him happy.
She would uphold that on all costs!
"My Lord!" She cried, at his feet, kneeling. "Please do not feel unhappy!" She begged, on her knees in front of him, gazing up – like mother to her small son.
"May I suggest that if the Young Master if still hungry that we go together to a restaurant of his choice?"
He paused, sniffling, rubbing at his face with his soft sleeve – eyes glittering affectionately as he locked gaze with her. He loved her eyes; they were one of his most favourite things in the world (apart from curry) – they reflect her so much and were he weakness. In truth, he had always been able to read her like an open book - yet lately, she wasn't becoming more complex and difficult to read.
"You… Y-You mean it… Lan?" He sobbed, sniffing. "You'll take me out to eat?" He asked. "This late?"
"Of course Young Master." She replied surely and faithfully, her face serious and set with some still evident signs of concern upon her soft face.
"Lan Fan!" He cried suddenly, reaching out and taking her hands between his much larger ones in dire appreciation, leaning forward so that their foreheads were practically touching.
"I love youuuu!" He exclaimed, nuzzling her hand against his face.
((Very quick one shot about Ling and Lan Fan when they first arrived in Amestris – still quite young and innoccent before the events of the 'war'. The ending's not very good so I'm sorry!))
She blushed, suddenly concious of her weight = In the manga extra, Ling and the Elrics were talking about learning Xingese and how to go about it. Ling called Lan Fan over and said; "Guess what I am saying to her." And then proceeded to ask her how much she weighed. She turned bright pink and they both exclaimed; "He asked her on a date!" couldn't help but include this reference!
"This is horrible!" Ling's English dub voice actor is the same as Italy's dub voice actor in "Hetalia". There's a scene where Italy tries England's scones and he spits it out and yells; "This is horrible!" To which England has a melt-down over. Included this reference for Hetalia fans.