Ed and Al had been banished to the dueling grounds. Or rather, they had been sent on a mission - finding it far too bouncy with two angst-less teenagers confined to the space of one building no matter how big it was, Roy had given them eight buckets of chalk and told them not to come back until it was all gone.
So the two lay flat on their stomachs and drew. Ed's tongue stuck out of huis mouth as he concentrated on getting the line straight on the world's tiniest transmutation circle. Al liked broader, sweeping strokes in various colors, which eventually revealed themselves as outlandish trees in manner of Dr. Seuss. Al was more efficient at using up chalk.
Presently, though, the younger Elric moved farther away and began work on a new project. Ed, in disgust at having smeared irreparably, had started on a new workand was half way through it before he realized that Al wasn't there.
"Brother?" He looked up and spotted him. And the project.
Ed wasn't here
Ed's eyes gleamed. "What do you mean I wasn't here?" He asked. Al said nothing, but began elaborating the flourishes, flicking his ponytail out of his face. Honestly, he kept meaning to cut the thing…
Ed scurried over. "I'll show you 'Ed wasn't here.'" He mumbled, scratching furiously with his chalk.
Ed was here
Al smiled. "Oh?" He asked, moving over and inscribing his words once more.
From there, the game was on. Chalk dust flew as the two boys scribbled mercilessly.
"You're at a disadvantage….Nii-san…" Al puffed. "You've got… shorter arms."
"WHAT!" Ed shrieked, scribbling harder and faster.
"Smaller… more inefficient."
Before long, the buckets of chalk were gone, right in the middle of 'was'. Impossible to tell if it was 'was' or 'wasn't' except by the handwriting, which was Ed's, but more difficult to tell when it was so large.
Ed reluctantly subsided, panting. Al was tired, too, but he was grinning triumphantly and trying not to show he was, to rub in the fact that his arms reached farther. "Hey, brother, I have something to show you."
"What." Ed asked, annoyed.
"Come here." Ed came, and alchemy ensued, such that shortly Ed and Al found themselves some meters above the ground.
"Fuhrer'll kill you for messing up his courtyard." Ed commented.
"I'll fix it when we get down." Al assured him, and there was silence for a moment before he spoke again. "All right. Look down." Ed complied. Below them, only visible from this high up, the endless 'Ed wasn't here's spelled a different phrase.
Edward Elric is short