Edward Elric stormed down the hall of Central HQ, fuming loudly and angrily at everyone and anyone in reach.

"That bastard!" he snarled. "He calls me at six o' clock in the morning, just to tell me he needs to see me at eight, and then he's not even in his office! When I find him, he is dead! I'm going to pull his eyes out and shove them down his throat!"

Alphonse sighed (it could barely be heard over the clanking of his armor) at his brother's behavior, and said, "Brother, it's not-"

"It IS that bad, Al!" Ed hollered, whirling around to glare at Al. "Do you know how much sleep I lost?! Two hours- in fact, I lost more!"

"Brother, people are staring."

"Let 'em stare! They need to know about this! It's a conspiracy! Mustang is plotting against me! He's going to deprive me of my sleep until I have no energy left! Something should be done! The people should know! Al, contact the newspapers…"

As Ed continued to rant incessantly, Al noticed something coming closer out of his peripheral vision. Without turning around completely, he twisted around just a bit and stared. A little girl, smaller than Ed, was walking towards them humming softly and reading a book.

Al also saw that she was headed straight for Ed, but felt no need to warn him. Instead, he sidestepped out of her way and, stifling a laugh, watched the collision unfold.

"Oh!" cried the girl, colliding head on with Ed's chest. Her book flew from her hands.

"What the-" Ed said, startled. Both he and the girl fell to the ground in opposite directions.

Ed had scarcely touched the floor when he sat up again, face red with humiliation and anger. "Watch where you're going, kid!" he barked.

The girl shot up like a rocket, glaring at Ed fiercefully. "Kid? KID?!" she repeated, her voice rising with each word. "I am no kid! I'll have you know I am sixteen!"

"You're 16?" Ed taunted. "Don't make me laugh!"

"Not trying to!" the girl retorted. She jumped to her feet and looked down on Ed with a hearty bark of laughter. "I am Sylvia Harkart, the Heartbreaker Alchemist, heir to the Harkart Fortune and close, personal friend of the Armstrongs! Now, who might you be, your royal shortness?"

"SHORT?!" Ed bellowed. "DON'T CALL ME SHORT!!!!"

"I'd call you tall, but that'd be lying."

"Like you're one to talk! Besides, I'm taller than you!"

"You're ignoring my question!"

"WHAT QUESTION??!!"

"You never told me who the hell you are!!!!!"

"THE NAME IS EDWARD ELRIC, YA HAPPY???!!"

At that, Sylvia gasped and stumbled backwards. "S-so sorry, sir!" she breathed shakily, then ran off.

Ed and Al stared after her, confused. Then, Al turned on his brother and yelled, "Look what you did, Brother!"

"What I did?"

"Yes!"

"She ran into me!"

"So?!" Al's voice was high, making his armor ring. "You didn't have to be so mean! You probably scared her, and that's probably why she ran off!"

"Hmph!" Ed scoffed, turning away from Al. "Let's just go see Mustang and get it over with. I wanna go back to sleep."

Al sighed exasperatedly and followed Ed. After all, who else would keep him out of trouble?

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Huddled in the bathroom, Sylvia rubbed her cheeks. Her face was dangerously red; she had never been so embarrassed in her life. You'd be embarrassed, too, if you had just ruined your first meeting with the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"If only I'd known it was him!!" she moaned, dragging her hands down her face. "I wouldn't have acted so stupidly. I would've asked for his autograph ,and shook his hand, and asked him to sign my gloves!"

Sylvia threw up her hands, palms facing the ceiling, and stared at the transmutation circles sewed into them. "He probably would've commented on them," she sighed.

She stared at them sadly before sighing, "Oh, well. I'd best go see Colonel before he gets onto me."

She turned on her heel with a deep breath, left the bathroom, and stalked down the hall.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

There! Hopefully, it's better than the other one. Review! Constructive Criticism welcome.