Prompt from theretard5892 from the forum Fully Combustive Material for the Fanfic Author. This is when Ed and Al are young, and living with their mom. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I would usually add something witty here, but I don't want to give away the plot ;) Or lack thereof.
"Brother! Look what I found!"
"No, Al, we cannot keep the kitten." Ed turned around, exasperated, only to be met with an unusual sight. He stared, befuddled, at the orange form in Al's hands. "Is that—?"
"Please? Can we keep him, please?" Al pleaded, clutching his newfound pet close.
"What the—? Al, that's a…pumpkin." Ed poked his brother's forehead, as if trying to discern what the heck was wrong with Al's brain.
"Yes! But he's so cute!" Al stuck the little pumpkin in front of Ed's face. "Just look at him!"
Ed peered at the vegetable suspiciously. "Al…did you just call the pumpkin a 'he?'"
"Of course Bobby's a 'he!'" Al replied, indignant that Ed would think otherwise.
"Okay…" Ed sighed, leaning back. It was best not to question Al in these circumstances. "But you can't keep…him, Al."
"Aw," Al whined, "why not? I'll take care of him, I promise! I'll—feed him, and polish him, and—and—take him for walks—"
"Where'd you even find that?"
"He was just sitting there, all lonely on somebody's doorstep," Al stroked Bobby affectionately. "I couldn't just leave him!"
"On somebody's doorstep?" Ed raised an eyebrow. "It…er, Bobby probably belongs to someone else, then. You should put him back. Mom says that we can't take things that aren't ours."
Al frowned. "But…but…he's so small!"
Ed twitched. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Um…" Al realized too late that he'd sailed into dangerous waters. "But small things are…cute!"
"CUTE?!? YOU THINK I'M CUTE?!?" Ed exploded.
"Nice! Small things are nice!" Al amended quickly.
Ed calmed down a bit. "Well, even if, um, Bobby is nice, you still can't keep him. I bet his owners take good care of him anyway." He held out his hand. "Come on, Al. Let's put him back."
Al pouted. "Fine."
"So…who's doorstep?" Ed asked casually as the two set off to return Bobby.
"Winry's."
Ed stopped. He grinned, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Well. That changes everything. Never mind, Al. You can keep Bobby."
Al brightened. "Really? Oh, thanks, Brother!" The two brothers turned towards their own house.
"We should draw a face for Bobby," Ed suggested. "So we can tell how he's feeling."
"Good idea!" Al agreed.
They walked along for a few more moments before Al paused. "Hey, Brother, when I said small things were 'cute,' and you yelled…"
"Because I'm not cute!" Ed snorted. "I'm a boy! Boys aren't cute."
Al smiled. "So you just admitted you were small…"
It was so quiet, Al could hear Bobby sweat. Ed shook with pent up anger. "Al," he hissed through gritted teeth, "you have ten seconds before I kill you."
Al backed away hastily, holding Bobby in front of him. "Oh, Brother, I didn't mean it! What about Bobby? You can't tell, but he doesn't want you to kill me!"
"Well then, Bobby better watch out too!" Ed growled. He started counting. "Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten!"
Al took off, complaining over his shoulder, "Brother! That was too short for ten seconds!"
Al mentally slapped himself for saying the "s" word again. He should've been more careful. Bobby agreed.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT BOBBY COULD SKOOSH HIM IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE?!?"
"Really?" You're thinking. "Really? A pumpkin? Really?" I can explain! Kind of. I was walking around, thinking about the prompt, and I looked out the window, and saw the little pumpkins my mom put out. There you go. And I used to give a gender to inanimate objects all the time (sometimes I still do ^^`), so it's perfectly reasonable in my mind for Al to call Bobby a "he." What do you think? Review! Please? :D