This is just a little oneshot I wrote last September for a FMA fanfiction contest on Livejournal. The theme given was "candle", so if you find all the references to the candle in the story odd, that's why. Please enjoy. :)
Shadows
Al looked over at his brother, who was sprawled out on the floor across from him, looking over several texts at once. The candle they were using for light flickered, causing the shadows on the wall to shift. Al glanced behind him for what seemed to him the millionth time, just to be sure that it was only them in the room.
"Hey, Ed?" He asked.
"Mm?"
"Do… do you think this will really work?"
"Of course. We've been researching like crazy, haven't we?" Ed responded indignantly.
"Yeah…" Al murmured, eyes drifting back to the wall behind his brother, the shadows still flickering with the candle. The way they changed shapes like that was really creeping him out; Ed's shadow kept changing, morphing him into twisted figures. Al looked away.
"I really want to see her soon."
Ed finally looked up at his little brother. "We will." His eyes were bright, illuminated by the candlelight. Al's doubt began to ebb away.
"And besides," Ed continued, wanting to fully assure his brother, once again, that transmuting a human being was completely reasonable and safe even though it was labeled 'taboo', "we studied for months with our teacher. And we're alchemy geniuses. Everyone in Resembool says so."
Al laughed at his brothers' over-the-top confidence. His discomfort from earlier eased. Everything would be okay. He was an alchemist.
The shadows on the wall weren't scary at all; they were only there because of the light cast on them by the candle.